Shocks and static
by sisno2200
Summary: Being able to interchange between Human and pokemon would be great right? Well not if you're battling pokemon every day, trying to hide your secret wherever you go, while you have to listen to the annoying 10 year old who caught you. Welcome to my life.
1. Shocks and Static

Disclaimer I don't own Pokémon in any way shape or form but I do own Elizabeth Payne.

Shocks and static

**-Elizabeth Payne POV-**

I sighed once more and looked at the essay I was meant to hand in tomorrow. I clearly had no idea why people willing set out as trainers as the title 'Reasons why people and Pokémon travel together' was as blank as it was when it was given to me two weeks ago. I ran my hand through my thick brown hair and caught a look at myself in the mirror. A pale 16 year old with long brown hair and big hazel eyes were staring back at me my name is Elizabeth Payne but I prefer Liz or Lizzy. I was wearing jeans, a white t-shirt and a blue jacket. Okay so I had never been one for fashion and didn't partially mind Pokémon. My parents are hardly ever home but they love Pokémon and have often complained at me for not going outside and exploring the world. They've done this so often that I can recite their speech word for word so I have no excuse to not go on a journey with Pokémon. The simple reason why I haven't left is because I'm too lazy I love the warm cosy feeling of my bed, using my computer and my phone always having full battery. Besides even if I don't go on a journey it not like I never get to see any Pokémon there always people on the street with theirs, Pokémon flying/ running around the streets and there's this stray Purrloin that comes round for food every day. I know it's the devious Pokémon so it's probably scamming me and a lot of other people out of food every week but I do get every so lonely at the house with my parent at work most days and it keeps the Rattata away.

I looked out the window in my bedroom expecting to see the ever present Pidgey, Spearow or maybe because it was fairly late Hoothoot. Instead I looked out the window and swore. Loudly. Then I quickly followed this by falling of my chair. Outside my window was a shiny white Pichu which was staring its golden eyes into mine. I heard of my friend who had encountered a shiny Pokémon apparently they were very difficult to find and not really worth the effort because they were just the same as normal Pokémon except with bragging rights. Even when you did find one and bragged about it then only thing that will happen to it is that it is stolen and bred illegally to try and make more for profit. This had taught shiny Pokémon to be careful and trainers not to brag. However, this Pichu just stared at me not at all put off by my staring at it. I blinked not sure what to do I wheeled the chair right by the window, where I stared at the Pichu in more detail. It was pure white, had golden tips for ears instead of black and the same story for its golden tail, it had deep golden eyes which appear to stare into the depth of my soul. I decided to open the window. I wanted to get a better look I was half expecting to run of like all the other Pokémon did when I opened the window or in nesting season attack me. But White Pichu just walked in and then jumped on my lap making me flinch. I knew wild Pokémon weren't meant to act like this from the one time an Oddish climbed into my room and got so scared I ended up in hospital for a week because of the Poison Powder. Plus, I then couldn't use my room for a month while they disinfected it. The White Pichu just stood there on my lap not making a sound making me wonder if it had been trained. So I did something I normally would never do to a Pokémon I didn't know. I reached out my hand.

Pichu didn't react while my hand got closer my heart beating fast faster. Then it bit me. On my thumb. Hard. Then it leapt of my lap and ran to the window still. I however was feeling more pain and a lot more unfortunate as the world had started spinning and I had to stand up from my chair. I couldn't make out the Pichu on the window still staring at me I just wanted to find my bed for the comfort, warmth and safety it provided. In my confused state I tripped over my school clothes but luckily landed on my bed. My world began to turn to black as the White Pichu jumped away into the darkness.

**Hey how do like my first story on fanfiction! :D hopefully I can make it to the end and bring entertainment to people but if I do have to quit I will let everyone know. I hope this story becomes great but if it doesn't it just mean less pressure for me **


	2. Changes

Disclaimer- don't own Pokémon

Some things change while others are completely different.

**Elizabeth Payne's POV**

I awoke quite early due to the cold breeze coming through my window and wondered why I didn't shut it yesterday. I live in Windswept valley in the Kanto region which is famous for its ever present wind. Therefore we're also called the town of shut windows Windswept valley is a small town near the mountains of the Pokémon league about a mile away from victory road. I rolled off my bed in an attempt to wake myself up enough to shut the window. While doing this I felt a sharp pain in my left hand and looked at it to see a small golden lightning bolt on my thumb and I remember about the White Pichu last night. I also remembered about the essay I was meant to hand and I immediately stood up and started running around getting my stuff ready for school. This point I didn't care that the window was still open or that I hadn't done the essay I'll just say that I lost it and get a detention in the worst case scenario. I carried on running grabbing my books and uniform off the floor only to reach a drastic halt at the mirror. It took all of my will power not to scream but I knew I wasn't going anywhere near school today.

Pichu ears. I had Pichu ears and a little Pichu tail to match and it look like I had shrunk at least 2 inches which I was not happy about as I had always been small for my age. The ears were yellow like a normal Pichu but had brown tips probably because of my hair and the tail was the same. I pulled at the ears and tail and it seriously hurt. So they were definitely attached to me. I sat down and stared at myself in the mirror. What could have done to deserve this? Last time I checked Pichus don't give diseases that turn people into Pichus. Maybe it's some kind of curse but they don't exactly curse people either even the strange white ones. Even if they did all I did was let one in my house that surely wasn't worth a curse for life was it? I stood up and attempted to move my ears and tail they were still and hurt but within a minute I could move them with ease. Then there was a bright unexpected light in my room and I felt weird like every part of my body was changing and when I opened my eyes there was a normal Pichu on the floor instead of me save the brown ears and tail. I was freaked at this and waved my arm and the mirror and to my dismay it waved in sync with me. '_Okay relax Elizabeth just go downstairs then you can phone the hospital and ask for help. Providing they don't put the phone down on me because I was crazy or lock me up for experimenting on me'_ however a singing voice outside the window made me realise the flaw in my plans.

"Oh I'm a little Pidgey sitting up in this tree,

Waiting for my husband so I can fly free,

Till he returns I sit on our babies to keep them warm,

And pray he doesn't get eaten, eaten for lunch,"

Right I'm a Pokémon now so if I speak to a human it will just sound like I'm saying Pichu a lot and won't be able to help me out. My stomach chose that time to remind me it was breakfast so I decided to go downstairs anyway to get something to eat. Who knows I might turn back into a human because just having the ears and tail is better than being a whole Pichu. Only then I encountered another problem. My door. I pulled and pulled for all I was worth but with my puny size I couldn't open it. I remember seeing a documentary on the Pokémon of the forest and how Pichu's could run up a 10 meter tree trunk without using any branches so a 1 meter run to a door handle should be no problem. I went back closed my eyes and charged at the door. Only to bang my head. '_Okay so that means no closing eyes' _I thought. I charged at it again and managed to get 4 steps up the door only to disconnect and fall backwards. I got fed up with door and remembered about the open window which had a tree outside, the only problem is that I'm scared of heights. Thank Arceus I wasn't bitten by a cursed Pidgey. I stepped on the window still and look at the nearest branch luckily it wasn't too far away so I plucked up my courage and leapt. I landed on the branch safely and nearly slipped off in fear the Pidgey was looking at me amusement and stopped its song. I crept along at branch on all four and made it to the main trunk. I then stepped my leg on to the nearest foot hold and began my long climb. Have you ever rock climbed without ropes while crying due to fear with someone laughing at you because they've seen a million others like you do it with ease? Well that's what it was like climbing down that tree trunk. Eventually to my surprise and the Pidgey's I gave it a good zap to shut it up. Then I slipped down the rest of the tree trunk while hugging it in fear. When I eventually stopped crying I realised I was close to the grounded and realised a lot people were staring at me. Not just normal people but trainers. Breakfast was know out of the question as I ran through many people legs all of who were shouting things like,

"Caterpie use String shot! Don't let that shiny get away!" so I had to not only dodge people but attacks as well. I think I caused a fair amount of damage as half the Valley's trainers and Pokémon were after me. Eventually I ended up in the Valley's forest and breathed a sigh of relief when I realised I couldn't hear anyone trainer or otherwise. I sat down on a nearby tree trunk and thought. '_Okay so I need to figure out how to change back to a human if I can. When I change into a Pichu I was thinking about the Pichu ears and tail so maybe to turn back into a human I need to think of the aspects of a human.'_

I stood up and concentrated '_human, human, human, legs, feet, arms, head, human' _was basically my train of thought. Suddenly something hit me on the back of the head and the world went dark while tossing and turning. I fought to get out of the darkness but I was confused. What was happening? The darkness was too strong eventually all became still and the only sound I heard was

"Yes! I caught my first ever Pokémon!"

**So who caught our stories hero? Well I know obviously and if you've read the summary you must have a vague idea of the type of person they are will Elizabeth travel with him/ her. How will they react to Elizabeth's 'curse' if they find out at all? Btw the chapter title was taken from the expression something change while others remain the same I just put a twist on it. **


	3. Enter Billy Derringer!

Disclaimer- No I don't own Pokémon

Enter Billy Derringer!

**Billy Derringer's POV**

I ran up to the Poke ball like it was going to disappear into thin air and stared at it with drool coming out my mouth I quickly wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and held up my new Pokémon to the sky and yelled at the top my voice

"Yes! I caught my first ever Pokémon!" although at this moment in time I had no idea what it was in the Pokeball. I didn't care as by the steady pulse of warm coming from it I could tell that something was in there and that's all that matters at this point. Even if it was one of the many Caterpie's or Rattata's that I had seen in the forest. I had taken the first step in my journey to prove that I could become a master without any help at all. My mind wondered back to the beginning of the day and the start of my journey.

Flashback

The sun was shining when I woke up in Viridian city my home town and I pulled on my favourite black shorts which go down to my knee and my blue T-shirt with a black poke ball logo I also grabbed my favourite blue rucksack pre-packed with all my favourite things. I raced downstairs where my mum my cooking bacon and scrambled eggs (my favourite) and my dad was reading the paper as a picture of calmness not suited to my state of excitement "did it come? Did it arrive?" I yelled at my parent faces

"Did what come sweetheart?" asked my mum wearing a white apron and standing at 1.4 meters who inherited my sky blue eye and my small nose from.

"You know my package the one with my Pokedex and my poke balls in it, the one which I ordered two weeks ago to come specifically on my birthday, the one I've been staring at the door for a week for it to arrive!" I cried in frustration.

"Sorry darling I've got no idea what you're talking about," said my mum looking quite sincere

"Yes, if you had a package you'd be the first to know," added my dad who I had inherited my spiky brown hair from and apparently my attitude. However inside that package was my dream and it was over before it had begun and to add to my misery, my parents had either lost their memory been kidnapped by aliens along with my package. I collapsed to the ground in frustration a saw a large brown package underneath the table I stared at in confusion then looked at my parents both now had great big grins and were giggling like children. Normally I would have yelled at them for tricking me but instead I scrambled under the table in excitement and in my haste banged my head. I ignored the pain and ripped open the packaging inside contain 10 poke balls and a Pokedex in my favourite colour bright blue. I jumped up and screamed "yes!" then I released I forgot about the table and saw it had been moved two meters away and my parents were looking at me with raised eyebrows. I guess they knew me too well as I grinned sheepishly at them and then sat down at the moved table and shoved bacon down my throat while my mum looked at me with worry and eventually spoke saying,

"Honey are you sure you want to start your journey without any Pokémon?" I sighed softly knowing my mum was worried about me. "It's okay that you want to buy your own equipment but there's a professor in a town nearby and I heard he gives starters away. You can be put on his waiting list and stay at home for another six months and receive a Pokémon that's already tame and easier to make a bond with," she said causing me to roll my eyes.

"No way mum!" I cried in protest "it's the sign of a great trainer if when I reach the top I did it all with myself and my Pokémon, which means I have to tame and catch each one of them myself with no exceptions! Then I can form real bonds with them and separate myself from other trainers and call myself a true trainer like all the trainers used to be! The first trainer had to catch their Pokémon themselves so will I!" I said standing up once again in determination. "Plus I don't want to wait around for another six months!" I cried then immediately felt bad when the hurt flashed across my mother's eyes.

"Is this about proving yourself to Kane?" my mother said softly trying not to let her pain show. I flinched visibly when I heard my one true rival's name "honestly you boys used to be such good friends and don't think it counts if you catch it accidently and it was only a –"

"It was a Pokémon mum." I said pointedly that was the only thing that mattered. "he's been rubbing it in my face ever since he caught it. So I'm going to catch one and become the best trainer ever with it and then thrash Kane with it," I said in determination thinking about Kane's face when I beat him caused me to grin.

"But sweetheart-"my mum started.

"Enough," my dad finally spoke his voice filling the entire room "Carol, you know that his mind's made up and no matter what Billy's want to catch his Pokémon himself," my dad's eyes never lifting off his paper.

"But he could get himself seriously hurt trying to catch one," my mum moaned.

"Billy," my dad's green eyes lifted up and bore into my blue ones "do you promise to always remain on route 22 to catch low level Pokémon doing nothing to antagonise them and to run as fast as you can if you do."

"I promise," I said seriously meaning every word.

"Then I see no big issues," my dad said lightly as if the serious mood had never been in the room.

"But, but Gerald-"my mum started glancing at me in worry.

"Carol love, we don't want our boy's last memory of home to be an argument, do we?" he said causing my mum to look down at the floor in sadness "It's his birthday, he going on a journey and he going to make a lot of his own decisions from now on."

"You're right." She said with a sigh "Here Billy," she handed me a slice of cake and a parcel and I blinked in surprise because I hadn't expected anything but the gift of going on my journey. I ripped open my parcel and stated to complain.

"You guys I told you I wanted to be an independent trainer-"I moaned feeling bad about the present in my hand.

"And we wanted to give you one thing every trainer needs and our only son a present so he remembers us," my dad started then he leaned in and whispered "besides we knew you couldn't afford it even with your two years worth of savings and it will help your mother sleep at night knowing you can contact us with ease," I looked at my new present, a blue Poke Nav and I nodded and settled down for my last meal with my family for a long time.

Eventually with my stomach full of bacon, egg and cake***** and my rucksack on my back I started the short walk to route 22. The weight of my rucksack felt heavy but I grinned knowing I would get used to the weight over time. Route 22 is famous for having hills, mountains and forest full of different Pokémon. It was the route right before the Kanto Pokémon league and my grin widened at this thought I would catch my first Pokémon here then we would return at the end of our journey together to beat the league. Route 22 is so diverse that there's even a small river right outside Viridian. The river isn't that well known and those who do know about it are often disturbed by the old man talking about his missing dreams. Walking past the said river I noticed a Poliwag swimming close to the surface perfect for my first Pokémon! I waded in the water careful not to go too deep or go into the fast moving currents. Apparently the river was over a mile deep with very fast flows. There were lots of stories of swimmers that had been swept away because the river looked like a simple lake but was flowing fast from the Mountains. I threw the poke ball at the Poliwag and it just swatted back with its tail. I frowned and tried again but this time it simple dived underwater and swam further away. Great now I had lost a poke ball and the Poliwag and rub to it in the Poliwag reappeared several meters ahead on me laughing.

"Come here!" I charged forward forgetting I was in a river and tripped over a rock into the murky blackness. Within moments I was washed away by the current to an unknown location struggling to breath. Eventually I burst through the water chocking and coughing and when the river lost some speed I managed to climb onto a nearby bank. I spent the next 10 minutes lying down regaining my energy. I opened my backpack (which had somehow managed to stay on through my trip) and checked my Poke Nav. According to the map I was in Windswept forest were most trees were bare and had no fruit and the nearest settlement was Windswept valley. I took a deep breath and decided to go to the Valley and see if I could dry off in a Pokémon Centre. I saw a Rattata running past in the trees and sighed in disappointment. I love any Pokémon but it is bit common. Then again apparently normal types can learn lots of moves so if it was my starter we'd be unstoppable. Plus any Pokémon would be better than Kane's. "Okay Rattata prepare to meet your maker!" I yelled at it holding up a Poké ball the Rattata hearing my voice ran away as quickly as possible. "HEY WAIT!" I yelled "at least give me the chance to catch you!"I cried running after it. The Rattata zigged zagged through the trees and disappeared into the bushes as I ran behind it. I rummaged through the bushes but eventually I gave up it was clear I had lost track of the Rattata. I stood up and walked some more and saw some Caterpies on the trees. I gasped in excitement and lifted up my pokeball before I even got the chance to throw it the Caterpies did a Stringshot in sync at my face. I struggled to breathe and pulled the sticky substance from my face getting it stuck on my arms and clothes. After I got the sticky substance off my face the Caterpie had disappeared. My feet trudged onward now a part my brain was saying that I should've just picked a starter and then I'd be in Viridian forest by know, and well on my journey. The other part was saying that a starter was a wuss's option and this experience will help me become a better trainer. Suddenly a small black blur rushed past me from the direction of the valley. I hid behind a tree and watched it. It stopped not too far away and looked left and right then sat down on a tree stump. I crept forward then hid again as it stood up. I couldn't risk it getting away so I quickly sprung into action and threw the poke ball. It obviously wasn't expecting it because it was a good clean hit and I watched nervously as the ball shook once then twice and finally... Click!

End of flashback

I held out my new poke ball in my hand and grinned. Then it began shaking. But this shouldn't be happening! I saw the ball click! And in a burst of white light my very angry looking starter appeared.

***who eats egg, bacon and cake for breakfast?**

**Billy finally has been introduced I hoped he isn't too clichéd in the next chapter it will all kick off Billy's dream is to be the champion without any help meaning that he won't accept any eggs or free potions but he will heal his Pokémon. Billy's parents aren't that important so you probably won't need to remember them but his rival will make an appearance but I won't make a proper character profile him until he does but I know what his mysterious first Pokémon will be when he appears the guy next to the river with a missing dream was reference to the guy who gives you the TM dream eater. Hurray! I got my first review! Thank you so much! may it be the first of many **


	4. The Terms Of Capture

Disclaimer- still don't own Pokémon

The terms of capture

**Billy Derringer's POV**

In a burst of white light my angry looking starter has burst out of its poke ball. I scanned it with my Pokedex _'Pichu the tiny mouse Pokémon_ _is capable of producing electrical sparks from its cheeks, however, , it cannot control them very well, and may release electricity unintentionally. This Pichu is female, knows Thundershock and charm and it is on level 2' _That sounds awesome but we've got a lot of training to do. I noticed my Pichu had brown tips on her ears and tail instead of the pictures black I had heard of shiny Pokémon but also heard shiny Pichu's were a slightly darker yellow than normal which this Pichu wasn't. At least I can tell my Pichu apart from others with ease. I knelt down so I was eye level with my new Pokémon and gave it a grin.

"Hi my name's Billy and I'm your new trainer!"

**Elizabeth's POV**

Who did this idiot think he was? He throws a ball at me out of nowhere and calls himself my trainer. He looked like all the signs of a cliché trainer as well, he had blue eyes and black hair and his clothes some shorts and a blue top were ripped slightly probably from trying to save someone that didn't need saving. I was just surprised he wasn't wearing a hat of some kind. He probably believed that he could win the league with love and trust of his Pokémon alone, or winning cause he was more determined then the next person. I thought those people only existed on TV. Plus it was embarrassing that Pokémon have been in the wild for years and have not been captured and I've been captured in my first half an hour without a battle. Which just added to my anger. Now his annoying face was right by my head and I took an unwilling step back. Well he looked like a giant to me in my state. I thought about legging it just to see his face. I could probably get a decent distance but then he'd just return me to the sphere of doom. I was flashed with inspiration if I couldn't run from him I'd make him run from me. I gave him an evil smirk in return.

**Billy's POV**

The Pichu stood still making me wondered if something was wrong with her I lent closer and she took a step back. I didn't want my first Pokémon to be scared of me! The suddenly she looked at me and I thought she might run away I got the ball ready in my pocket just in case. Suddenly she grinned quite cutely at me. I blinked surprise at my new Pokémon change in attitude so quickly. Suddenly she began to glow with a bright light. Was she evolving? The Pokedex said she was only level 2 apparently Pichu's could evolve quite early but only when they've got a strong bond with their trainer but I had only just caught mine. By now she had already outgrown the size of a normal Pichu and was by my hip. Was I getting a super powered Pokémon that had had drugs tested on it or something? However now she had out grown me and her hand and legs were the size of normal person's the only thing left unchanged during my Pichu's evolution (if that's what it was) where her brown tipped ears and tail that didn't disappear or grow bigger at all during the change. The glow stopped and it is place was a teenage girl that had the height of a twelve year old with brown tip Pichu ears, long brown hair, hazel eyes and a smirk on her face.

I stared at my Pokémon (or human?) for a moment with my mouth wide open until I finally burst out with "that's so cool!" the girl's mouth dropped open in shock "can you speak human? Can you do any attacks when you turn human? Can you talk to other Pokémon when you're a human? Can you speak human when you're a Pokémon? Do you have a name? Are you a human-Pokémon or a Pokémon-human? Can you switch back and forth between human and Pokémon? Do your Pichu ears and tail work the same when you a human as they do when you're a Pokémon?" the girl managed to recover enough to answer one of my questions.

"I'm Elizabeth Payne" she said reluctantly as if she was measuring me up.

"What are you?" I blurted out amazed by this girl.

"I'm a human and I got bitten by this white Pichu next thing I know I look like this and can switch back and forth between Pokémon and human. I thought I'd be able to scare you away so you don't drag me off to battles or send me to some kind of laboratory," Elizabeth explained and I felt a bit angry.

"No way!" I shouted and Elizabeth looked quite surprised at my outburst.

"There's no need to scream about it you know," she said in a flat voice but she seemed to relax slightly.

"It just that you're the first Pokémon I caught even if you a human really and no matter what I wouldn't run away even if you breathed acid or something. Besides I want to help you!" I said sincerely and Elizabeth's eyes softened slightly. Then she glared at me again.

"Help me how? You just want to make me your first Pokémon," She said with anger. "Or throw me to some mad scientist for money."

"No! Think about it Elizabeth-"I began wondering about the possibilities of what we could do.

"Liz or Lizzy don't mind just not Elizabeth" Liz said cutting me off.

"Think about it Lizzy!" I continued undeterred" I'm a Pokémon trainer and you can turn into a Pokémon. You don't know if your transforming is permanent or temporary and you don't know what sets it off. You don't want to be living in a town then change into a Pichu by chance do you?" I saw her eye twitch slightly and I knew and had made a point "Then you'll definitely be captured. Stick with me and you'll already have a trainer making capture by normal means impossible! We'll be travelling along so we'll never be in the same location and if someone does find out they won't be able to predict where our next location will be. Plus I need a Pokémon to help catch others and win the league and you're perfect! You can tell me what my Pokémon don't like about me so I can form better bonds with them and if you do get captured you stand a better chance of getting away because I've trained you!" I finished with a gleam in my eyes.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I've got to admit the kid makes a pretty convincing argument and a lot of the points did make sense.

"Plus," he add in his excitement "if a white Pichu did this to you there's a chance you might encounter it and then you can ask it to change you back or ask why it changed you in the first place. The boy Billy was looking up at me with his big blue cute eyes. Ug... must resist cuteness...

"Okay I'll travel with you as your Pokémon," I said somewhat reluctantly, Billy began whooping around cheering oblivious to my mood. "However," he stopped and looked directly at me "we need to establish some ground rules. Rule one is that you can't send me into a battle when I'm a trainer or if I'm a trainer tell me to hid in the bushes and transform because people might notice there's something fishy. Rule 2 don't yell Pichu do this or that make sure you use my name when talking to me as a Pichu. Rule 3 don't force me to transform to do pointless conversations like relay messages. Rule 4 never put me in a pokeball again. Do we have a deal?" I held out my hand the boy looked at me and grinned and took my hand in agreement. Thus this one deal started my journey with Billy as his Pichu. Something tells me I'm going to regret this.

**Yay! We've begun! We got the intro out of the way and the back story. They're going to start the journey to collect badges across Kanto next full of friends, rivals and mysteries! btw after they've made this deal they go to windswept valley where Elizabeth quits school and phones her family to tell them she going on a journey and grabs a rucksack full of supplies and a hat to cover the ears. I just couldn't be bothered to put this in the story because it not very important and I really want to start the journey on the next chapter and it wasn't really suitable for this chapter. Please review you know you want to **


	5. The Journey of a Thousand Miles

Disclaimer- I don't own Pokémon

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a simple step!

**Billy's POV**

The sky was a brilliant blue as a crisp breeze spread across Windswept valley and I nodded to myself. This was the perfect day to start my journey to win the league. If my Pokémon would ever wake that is. Elizabeth needed to sort out some things in her home town before we left so she had turned into a Pichu grabbed her stuff and by the time that was done it was already late so we stayed in her house overnight. I sighed I bet no one ever started their journey by going backwards. When I had phoned them my parents were overjoyed to hear that I had caught my first Pokémon but I felt really bad that I couldn't tell them my secret. I had also received word that Kane was in Pewter city already I hoped that the gym leader thrashed him but it felt like it would take forever to catch him up especially seeing as we needed to get back to Viridian to pick up supplies before heading to Pewter. I was going to train Liz like hell for making me wait this long to start fulfilling my destiny! Well we need to train like hell anyway because she was only on level two and couldn't climb up a one meter door. I remember small Pokémon on TV leaping on large Pokémon and making them attack themselves in a vain attempt to hit the smaller Pokémon. I hoped by the time me and Liz were through she'd be able to do that or at least leap from tree to tree as we were training in a forest. Speaking of the devil I could see my first Pokémon walking towards me with her eyes half open sleepily, wearing a black hat and a black rucksack. I grinned not many people can say that their Pokémon carries their own supplies.

**Elizabeth POV**

This was stupid. I should have said no and a couple of other words that ten year olds shouldn't hear. I could see him tapping his foot in impatience but when saw me he grinned but there was an old look of malice behind the grin. I shifted the rucksack on my back uncomfortably and I knew I would regret this.

**Billy's POV**

"You finally ready to go?" I cried out in frustration.

"No I just thought I turn up with my clothes in bag and some cooking and camping equipment. What do you think?" she replied in a sarcastic voice.

"Brilliant but what happens to your bag when you change?" I asked in wondered causing her to shrug.

"Same thing that happens to all my clothes it changes with me." She said almost bored.

"Wicked!" I cried "let's start walking then. I want to catch another Pokémon on the way if it's possible and we need to train you up! You know what they say the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!" I cried in determination.

"Okay just wait there for a sec then I need to change into a Pichu cause if we get challenged by a trainer you won't have any Pokémon on you, and if we get challenged by a Pokémon by the time I've changed it will have got away!" she said with a small grin and I blinked in surprise.

"That's quite smart Liz but be quick about it I want to start as quick as possible!" I said bouncing from foot to foot as she went in a nearby by alleyway. I was quite surprised by her enthusiasm to be honest but they do say Pokémon take after their trainer. I guess that goes for human-Pokémon as well! After one really long white glow later (at least it seemed that way to me) Liz emerged out of the alleyway as a Pichu and proceeded to climb up my back (with a bit of help) and lie down in the hood of my jacket and fall asleep. I nearly fell over from embarrassment. I should have just guessed that Liz was being lazy! Regardless we were now on our way! Also at least because Liz was a Pichu I wouldn't be able to understand her complaints!

**Elizabeth's POV**

I snoozed in Billy's jacket hood sunbathing when it was warm walking through the forest and using it as a blanket when it was too cold. I occasional looked at the trees in wonder I always hated Windswept forest it always made me feel sad although I couldn't think why. Eventually my peace was disturbed when Billy stopped suddenly and gasped. I stood up and looked over his shoulder on our path was a shiny blue Caterpie looking for a fight. Personally I don't see what's so great about it so I lied back down. But Billy had different ideas and leant forward like a bowing motion which caused his hood to fall on his head and me to fall on the ground. I glared up at him. "Go on Liz you can beat this Caterpie that mean you can gain a level and do less training later. And I'll use you less in fights if we have more Pokémon." Billy encouraged. I wasn't too sure but stood (in what I assumed to be) a battle stance. Not counting the accidently shocked Pidgey (which probably caused me to gain a level in the first place) this was my first ever fight. I stared at the Caterpie surprised it hadn't run away by now. "Okay let's start off with Charm!" Billy yelled like I wouldn't hear him with my better than normal hearing but I was freaking out silently. What was Charm? What is that! The Caterpie sensing my confusion started charging towards me I yelled and started running towards Billy. Okay I know I might sound like a drama queen scared of a Caterpie but it was at least as big as I was if not bigger! Billy was now screaming at me "No Liz! Not this away toward Caterpie! Caterpie!" jumping up as I ran underneath his leg. Well if he thinks he can do it better why doesn't he give a try! "Use Thundershock Liz! "That I can do. I quickly turned around a fired a Thundershock at the Caterpie who quickly fired a Stringshot at one of the many tree branches and then used his momentum to slam into me. The world went dark and I knew that I had lost. To a Caterpie.

**Billy's POV**

My mouth fell open in disbelief. That could not have gone worse. Not only did I lose a shiny Caterpie but my starter couldn't take out something the same level as her. I felt glum as I sprayed the Pichu with a Potion. I didn't think I would need to use a potion so soon. Why had she not used Charm? It wasn't the case her not listening to me which I thought might have been an issue because of pride. So why? Then it hit me Liz was not born a Pokémon so the knowledge of using attack didn't come naturally. That means whenever she's learning a move of using a move that should come naturally at her level she won't be able to perform it without practice. Suddenly having a human turned Pokémon as a starter didn't seem like such a good idea after all. Should I just use her to catch another Pokémon and let her go seeing as she doesn't want to be here? Liz's eye's fluttered open and I saw a fragile nature that I didn't often see past her sarcastic nature. I couldn't let her down. She needed to learn her attacks and I don't know if it's just me but I feel like she's got a lot potential and she needs this journey just as much as I do. I won't give up because all this training me make me and her the best even if we do it the hard way. Like the expression we just need to take our journey one step at a time.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I woke quite surprised to see Billy holding me quite close to him with a potion in his hand. So that means he healed me but he now appeared to be deep in thought. An evil grin spread across my features I'll teach him to heal me and then ignore me! I gave him a good zap and then he gave me one of his cliché looks of determination. This can't be good.

I made a mental note to always let Billy daydream after our training was complete I was know of levelsix6 and now knew tail whip to add to my attacks we had spent the last half an hour running around the forest and attacking different trees. We were now training me to try and keep electricity go around my body without discharging any so I was now walking on the dirty ground with my bare feet zapping myself. This felt really gross and unsettling feeling the dirt beneath my feet but I suppose I would have to get used to it. Billy said it would build up my endurance, the amount of time I could use my electric attack and help me control my electricity so that I wouldn't shock myself. But I only saw it was doubly tiring with walking and using my energy to make my electricity flow around my body. Plus it was painful due to the many splinters on the ground and me zapping myself on more than one occasion. Thankfully after two hours of walking through mud and practically running all the way to keep up with Billy he decided to set up camp. Unfortunately we were still nowhere near route 22 or Viridian city and Billy went to slept thinking about something. The next day I woke up and practice my Thundershock on a nearby tree it didn't look that much more powerful and I frowned in frustration. I thought this stupid training was meant o have some kind of result! Billy came out of nowhere where with a massive rock and a smaller but still quite big (to me anyway) rock I looked at him and then pointed at the tree I had zapped. "I know it doesn't look like you've improved very much but some you'll be stronger than a normal Pichu because of your electricity control. Anyway yesterday got me thinking we're both not moving very quick! I mean Pichu's are meant to be speedy and I know you were training but you should have had no trouble keeping up with me even with the training! And I'll be travelling around the country I should be travelling around fifteen miles a day but according to the Poke Nav I only travelled seven miles despite our late start we should have travelled at least ten! So we going to carry a rock each until we get to Viridian by the time we get there we should be stronger and faster even if it takes an entire month to get there! Also, to improve your electric power if you can flow electricity through your body, like you did yesterday, throughout the journey." Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse it did. The joys of training and being trained. I quickly transformed into a human (I was getting better at this) and looked down at Billy.

"This is the most stupid idea ever." I pointed out with raised eyebrows.

"Come on Lizzy please I promise when we get to Viridian we can ditch the rock. Plus it will get you more used to using you power as a Pokémon." He begged pouting with his cute eyes. This time I was too tired and fend up to be persuaded.

"Forget it I'm going home. This was obviously a bad idea." I said walking away.

"Wait Liz!" Billy cried causing me to stop in my tracks. "Just give it one more day with this training and if you don't see any difference I promise you can go home." He said sincerely. I sighed and turned back into a Pichu causing Billy to grin and he tied the small rock to my tail and the bigger rock to his waist.

However the kid it turns out had a point after a whole day of rock/shock training I was shocking myself less and less and the weight was becoming more and more familiar. Billy was also getting much faster and stopping for breaks a lot less. I may have not been gaining many levels but I was gaining power and control. Eventually after three days of adding a rock to my troubles and many sarcastic comments we had gotten out of Windswept forest and had reached route 22 home of the path to the league.

**Billy's POV**

We had made it to route 22 and we had definitely grown stronger as Liz was level 8 and we both could walk 15 miles per day despite the rocks but that might have been because of my urging to do 15 miles a day anyway. A grin took over my features on my right was the league and on my left was the path to the many cities where the 8 badges I needed were waiting for me.

"I swear that that I will not return to this path until I have won all my badges!" I yelled to sky Liz looked at me with raised eyebrows but I ignored her but I had caught something else's attention. A purple Pokémon with large ears and on all fours leapt out of the grass I gave it a quick scan with my Pokedex. It was a male Nidoran and it had its poisonous horn pointed towards us looking for a challenge. Immediately I untied the rock from Liz's tail and she glared at me before walking up to the Nidoran. The Nidoran charged forwards "Jump!" I yelled and Liz managed to jump at least a meter in the air surprising us both, while the Nidoran ran underneath her unable to stop due to its speed. It must have been all the training we did that helped Liz's jump and I gave a grin. "Thundershock!" she let it rip as the Nidoran flew backwards from the force of the attack and into a tree from the forest we had just left. I got a Poké ball ready thinking that it was knocked out, but to my, and Liz's, surprise it got back up and managed to land a peck on her having gotten her before she could react. I grinned even more at this stage; a flying type move wouldn't cause that much damage to Liz. So image my surprise when Liz collapsed on one knee obliviously in pain. She didn't have that low defence especially with all the training we did! I understood the situation when my Pokedex beeped 'Your Pokémon has been badly poisoned please get it to a Pokémon centre as soon as possible'. I panicked I knew trainers could get into these situations but I didn't know it would happen so soon. I scooped up Liz prepared to run but the Nidoran determined to keep fighting leapt in front of me. "Please move Nidoran!" I begged "my friend is sick from your poison!" it just stood its ground. So image my surprise when Liz managed to shock the Nidoran so it collapsed from paralysis either caused from the battle or the attack. Great, so now I had two fainted Pokémon to look after. Not knowing to do, I threw a ball at it. It shook once, twice and click but the victory was a hollow as grabbed the ball and ran towards Viridian city.

The journey of a thousand miles may begin with a single step but how many of those steps are good decisions?

**This chapter's a bit boring in my opinion but I didn't want to waste 3 chapters getting to Viridian city and then one chapter spent training in a forest. don't worry after this I probably won't include that much training in the chapter unless they've just lost a major battle or they're going to learn a new move. I won't skip that much travel I'll commit at least one chapter between every gym battle for travelling but most of these won't be just walking around the characters will actually have to do things. Also I hope the battles with other Pokémon are detail enough and aren't too confusing. On the plus side Billy caught his first other Pokémon but it's in almost as bad as of a state as Liz is right now the chapter title was taken from the expression (guess what it is) and it's how I encourage myself to waste time training my team to a higher level cause even if they're getting barely any exp a Pokémon level's up by one exp at a time the next chapter will start from the Viridian Pokémon Centre. Reviewers make me happy even bad ones cause bad reviews can help me improve **


	6. The Sickly Pichu and Nicolas

Disclaimer- I somehow managed to take over the whole Pokémon Corporation in one day and none of it was on the news- wait that didn't happen so I guess I still don't own Pokémon

The Sickly Pichu and Nicolas!

**Elizabeth's POV **

The world was switching between blackness and blurred shapes and my whole body felt like it was on fire from the inside. I could feel some one carrying me shouting things I couldn't make out. I felt myself being put on something cold as I saw more bleary shapes. My last sight was a pair of familiar golden eyes which felt like they weren't really in the room and the voice of Billy in my subconscious "Hold on..."

**Billy's POV**

I stood pacing outside the room. This was all my fault the nurse had said that Liz's violent reaction to the poison may had been due to exhaustion which might have been due to our on the go training or tough routine. Liz would have said something if that was the case though wouldn't she? There have been theories though that Poké balls secret some kind of chemical to force Pokémon to listen unless they were a really high level. But she had said that the training was a stupid idea that means she wasn't under control but why didn't I listen? I wasn't doing that well at being a trainer I started off going backwards and both the Pokémon I've caught are in the emergency room. The only good decision I've made so far is catching that Nidoran because it turns out poison from the actual Pokémon who did the poisoning makes the best antidote. My brooding was interrupted when the nurse came out of the Emergency room.

"Your Pichu and Nidoran are now in a stable condition. In fact the Nidoran can leave if you wish it but the Pichu must stay for a while." She said.

"Okay but is something wrong with Liz?" I asked with worry in my voice trying to peer into the room behind the nurse.

"It's just that because she's so small the poison has spread throughout her body quickly because she's so small. She's also at high risk of entering a relapse of her condition. If she was a bigger Pokémon, or even a human being, she stands a better chance of a full recovery, because the toxins wouldn't be able to spread around her body as fast," the nurse said then walked away. She didn't know it but she had filled me with hope. If I could get Liz to turn into a human again she could recover quicker and wouldn't be at risk of falling into a relapse of her condition! I only had to get her to change back, sneak her into a normal hospital and then they could cure her! I rushed into the emergency room and reached a screeching halt. On the bed tossing and turning in some kind of nightmare was Liz. She looked so small like she would break at any minute that it was hard to accept underneath it all was the queen of sarcasm. I grabbed the ball in a tray nearby which contains my new Nidoran and attached it to my belt. It was a strange light but heavy weight and I knew I had to better job of taking care of both of them. I shook Liz awake carefully "Liz...wakey, wakey..."

**Elizabeth's POV**

I heard a weirdly familiar voice rousing me from a nightmare where there was the white Pichu, a valley of some kind... lots of black shapes... and someone who was there but not meant to be there... I was forgetting quickly and woke up back in reality with Billy looking like a giant. Which is weird, because I never sleep in Pichu form, just in case I can't change back into a human when I wake up. Then it hit me: the Nidoran, the poison and the burning pain. I noticed the new ball next to mine on Billy's belt. Well hurray I have a new friend. Please note the sarcasm. "Liz!" I turned my attention back to Billy "you're alive!"He then proceeded to squeeze the living daylights out of me. Which I took very well, and gave him a good zap in return for his efforts. He soon got the message and let go of me "I've got a cunning plan Liz!" Really? Cause that will be a first if he does. "If you turn into a human then the poison will spread throughout your body slower than it will if you're a Pichu. So you turn human we escape and get you treated at a hospital!" Well it's worth a shot at least. I began concentrating on all things good and human and felt the familiar glow of transformation. Suddenly a sharp pain in my side struck through me and my whole body felt like it was on fire. Before I knew it I began shrinking again. "What's wrong Liz why didn't you change?" Billy asked with concern.

"I'm not sure" I replied forgetting he couldn't understand me. I decided to try to transform again just to make sure I can't. I attempted to change into a human again but again the pain in my side came preventing my transformation but this time (probably due to the poison in my system) the pain overwhelmed me and I was drawn back to blackness.

**Billy's POV**

I don't understand why didn't she change? She glowed twice but then didn't change and then collapsed. So my cunning plan may have made things worse. But I don't understand why. I looked out of the window. I saw some kids playing with a Pokémon. Suddenly the Pokémon and one of the kids collided when running and both of them got hurt and started crying. The child's mother watching nearby got a potion out of her bag and managed to make the Pokémon healed and stop crying while the child had to be carried home. Something then clicked in my mind. Pokémon heal faster than humans so her body was probably keeping her in that state with some sort of instinct to survive. Which would have worked in any other situation but it was making things a lot worse in this situation. I needed a plan to get her better in the fastest possible way. Suddenly a white light burst from my belt and my newly caught Nidoran burst onto the floor. He sniffed me and then bowed his head I blinked confused at his behaviour. Then he jumped on the table and jabbed Liz with his horn "don't do that!" I cried "you're ability is poison point! You'll make her worse!" the Nidoran ignored me and I attempted to drag him away. Then I dropped him in shock was Liz opened her eyes and sat up. The Nidoran satisfied leapt off the table and stood by my feet with a grin on his face. The nurse ran in hearing the commotion.

"What's going on here? I heard shouting and-"she stopped when she saw Liz who decided to grin and wave at her. She nearly fainted from shock "that Pichu shouldn't be moving for at least week! How is that possible?" She asked in amazement her face pale.

"Well you see," I explained "my Nidoran stuck its horn into Liz next thing I knew she was sitting upright like she was never poisoned!" I said looking at my two Pokémon with pride.

"I see from what you've told me it sounds like some poison types have the ability to remove their poison once injected! Thanks to you and you're Nidoran we've opened the door to understanding Pokémon a bit more!" she ran off probably to tell some other doctors and I let a big grin go across my face it looked like we were back on track.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I couldn't help say I wasn't the littlest grateful to that Nidoran after all he helped remove the poison even if he did put it there. But after two hour of doctors examining me and saying it was a medical marvel the effect wore off a bit. The only consolation I got was that the Nidoran was going through the same treatment but he hadn't said anything to me yet which was a bit unnerving from someone who saved your life. Eventually Billy just grabbed us both and legged it out of the Centre. We were now travelling down a beaten path towards Viridian forest. I was once again in Billy's hood while the Nidoran walked besides us on the ground.

"Greetings, my lady Pichu I am Sir Nicolas of route 22 may I enquire thee for information about our whereabouts and my new Master?" I turned and looked at the Nidoran who was finally speaking but in old fashion English for some reason.

"Erm, hi I'm Elizabeth just call me Lizzy or Liz. You're currently in Viridian city which is just outside of route 22. The guy who caught you is named Billy he's 10 and from this city." I explained causing the Nidoran to smile slightly.

"I see thank thee for thy information but I care not for thy name lady Pichu, until you have bested me in a dual," Nicolas said smugly causing me to frown in confusion and annoyance.

"A dual? You mean a battle?" I asked just to clarify.

"That is correct my lady" he said looking up at me.

"Then haven't I already defeated you? When we were trying to catch you?" I said thinking back to my first proper battle.

"That is a mistake lady Pichu you see if I remember correctly it was a draw and you were on your knee's first." He said smugly causing a wave of annoyance to flash through me. I really didn't like this guy.

"But I had already blasted you into that tree!" I shouted at him.

"Yes but I managed to recover from that that and managed to land a smashing blow on your side I also recovered quicker meaning I had lost less power." He said calmly

"You had poisoned me! And different Pokémon have different healing speeds!" I cried.

"Well if you had trained under Master Billy for a longer period of time you wouldn't have been affected by my secret deadly poison." He said

"Anyone can get poisoned and because I was tired from training under 'Master Billy' it affected me even more!" I said in annoyance.

"Whatever you say lady Pichu just because you cannot best me in a real dual," Nicolas said with a puffed up chest and a smirk.

"How about I 'best' you right now!" I cried and leapt down at the Nidoran my cheeks sparking.

**Billy's POV**

I had no idea what my two Pokémon were saying but they had obviously got into some kind of fight. Liz fired a Thundershock at the Nidoran who leapt to the side and began firing a poison sting at her with she narrowly dodged.

"Hold it!" I cried before things got out of hand. "What's going on here?"Liz began transforming and stood with her arms crossed in front of my path. For some reason my new Pokémon didn't look fazed by this change.

"What was all of that about?" I yelled "what were you two arguing about?"

"His name's Nicolas" Elizabeth replied in a mood "but I suggest always calling him Nick because it suits him more."

"Nido ran ran!" my Nidoran cried in rage I raised my eyebrow at Elizabeth and she shrugged at me obviously understanding what that meant. I may not understand Pokémon but I knew that wasn't a cry of happiness.

"Nicolas it is" I said with a firm voice and we continued our way to the forest.

**Another new chapter and this time we introduce Nicolas the Nidoran and learn more about Liz's condition. I got the idea for Nicolas personality cause whenever I catch a male and female Nidoran they always get named prince and princess so I wanted him to have a high class attitude without being too annoying. Do not fear Elizabeth reason for travelling will be revealed but it won't happen any time soon unfortunately. This is only because I'm planning to introduce a few more characters and do a gym battle in the chapters coming up so details won't be revealed until that's out of the way maybe not until much later in the story. I guess I'm revealing bit too much here soon there won't be any story to read! Please review it makes me happy inside.**


	7. Pampered Princess Paula!

Disclaimer- guesses what! I still don't own Pokémon!

Pampered Princess Paula!

**Billy's POV**

We had been travelling on the road for quite some time and now we were inches away from Viridian forest. I had battled a few trainers on the way mainly with Nicolas due to him being a lower level than Elizabeth who mainly spent the time asleep in my jacket hood. We were just one forest away from our first gym battle! Somehow Elizabeth didn't see the appeal but least because of Nicolas doing most battling she could spent a lot more time as a human expect when she was being lazy like now. I stopped suddenly where the gate to the forest the last place you could get supplies and heal your Pokémon was. In its place was a great big palace.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I fell onto the ground for what felt like the millionth time. This time though I understood the reason. The great big palace. I turned back into a human and whistled in a high impressed note.

"That is some gate! Is it meant to look like that?" I felt I bit stupid saying this as it was obvious that this was no ordinary gate and would have been too expensive to make them all like this.

"Not too sure let's knock and ask!" Billy said happily. Sometimes I feel like hitting myself over his stupidity. We approached the palace warily as the door we at least triple the size of any normal door. We pressed a small bell by the door and I wondered how anyone could hear that through the depth of the palace. However, immediately after we pushed the bell a well dressed elderly butler answered the door.

"Yes May I help you young master and miss?" He said peeing outside the door. Man Nicolas would love this guy.

"Hiya!" Billy basically yelled in the butler's face causing him to flinch slightly. "We were just wondering if this was the gate to Viridian forest!" he said happily.

"Indeed are you two trainers?" the butler asked.

"Well technically I'm not but he is" I spoke for the first time and the butler's eye slunk over to me as if he had noticed me for the first time.

"Very well," the butler leaned in slightly "young miss!" he called to someone in the house "young miss trainers!"

"Oh goody I hope they're more fun than the last ones!" wait what? More fun? But my unasked questions were soon silenced as a young girl slid down the banister of a grand stair case.

**Billy's POV**

There was a girl sliding down the banister. She looked about my age but was wearing a pink dress, with pink shoes and pink ribbons to hold up her purple wavy hair. She jumped of the banister and land right in from of me and Liz. She smiled locking her purple eyes with my blue ones.

"Pleased to meet you my name's Paula Haring and this is my palace and now that you're here you have to entertain me!" Paula said still smiling.

"Eh?" I and Liz said in unison.

"See you on the first level!" she said with a smile before pulling a nearby lever making the ground beneath us disappear.

"Aaahhh!" we both cried as we fell into the blackness below. I landed on something soft and realising it was Elizabeth I got up quickly and pulled her up.

"Where are we?" I asked seeing nothing in the darkness.

"You think I know?" Elizabeth replied snappily probably angry with both me and that girl Paula. Suddenly there was a light above us and standing on the balcony was Paula and her butler.

"You're probably wondering where you are well you're on level 1 on my super fun gamey game! The challenge is simple get out the maze before the time runs out or I get bored. Complete all 5 levels and you're free to leave the palace. Lose the challenge and you're not allowed to pass through! Simple right?" She said with a grin.

"Why do we have to do this? I'm on a very strict schedule for the league!" I yelled in frustration.

"Well you could choose not to play instead you'll automatically lose and won't be able to go across the land that I own. Tick tock you'd better hurry up. Time is not your friend in this game." Paula replied slyly.

"I've got no time for this!" I cried in frustration grabbing the Poké ball at my belt "Nicolas use double kick on the wall!"I cried releasing my Nidoran who ran toward the wall at full speed. When he reached the wall he turned backwards and kicked the walls but nothing happened and Nicolas looked like he was doing his best not to limp and cry.

"You think others haven't tried and failed that technique? The walls are made out of the toughest concrete available! Nothing will break through them have fun in the maze of moving walls! The only thing that doesn't change is the exit!" Paula cried with glee. Elizabeth looked decidedly bored with the whole situation though.

"Hey you!" she shouted up toward Paula

"What it is play mate? The clocks running out fast you know!"

"Aren't you lonely up there why don't you play with us seeing as its you're game?" I blinked surprised at Liz's behaviour. Had she banged her head too hard in the fall? Paula was also shocked at this turn of events

"W-what is this? Some kind of trick to get me to tell you the exit is? Well I'm not buying it! You can say down forever as far as I'm concerned I'm just looking for some entertainment!" Paula said turning her head away.

"Suit yourself then." Liz replied and got a black marker pen out her bag

"What's that for?" I asked.

"Haven't you ever heard of the legend of the minotaur? A guy got trapped in a maze used a piece of string of know where'd he'd been so he be able to escape from the maze once he killed the Minotaur. If I draw on the floor even if the walls move we always know where we've been which will be useful cause the exit doesn't move." We started walking around the maze for what seem to be hours. Occasionally a wall slide in front of us blocking our path and we encountered our black line on the ground more than once. However after half an hour Paula said the first thing since the last time we had spoke.

"You've only got five minutes left to find the exit. Which is a shame because I thought you'd be more fun than the rest," she said sounding generally disappointed. I started to panic looking to see if I could find the exit to complete my Pokémon journey. Elizabeth just grinned however and I looked at her in confusion.

"We don't need five minutes we've already found the exit!"

"We have?" I asked in confusion but we hadn't gone through anything that even resembled an exit.

"The exit is right over there!" Elizabeth said dramatically pointing to the platform where a shocked Paula and her butler stood.

"H-how long have you known?" asked a surprised Paula

"I just worked it out now." Elizabeth replied smugly

"You did? Then why didn't you tell me?"I complained at her.

"Like Paula said this game is for fun. Seeing as we're meant to be playing a game here and entertaining her while we're at it." Before I could complain further a platform came out of the ground and lifted us up toward the platform where Paula stood.

**Elizabeth's POV**

Despite what Billy may believe I'm not completely evil and this girl looks lonely and forgotten in this big empty palace. That's why I decided to play her game but if it's a challenge like this every time I don't know how long we can go on winning. I barely managed to figure out the answer this time. We reached Paula and she had one of her fake smiles on. I was getting tired of these games of deception and we had only been through one so far. "What's your problem?" I burst out "you're obviously not doing just for boredom so why? A test of some kind?" Paul said nothing but her smile had gone I had evidently struck some kind of nerve.

"Follow me," she said in a small voice now "it's time for the next level,"

**Paula's POV**

How could that girl she straight through people? There was something strange about her, something special. Something that the boy shared as well, though just in his personality. The girl was hiding something. And I was going to find out what.

**So in this chapter we introduce Paula Haring! She obviously suspicious of Liz which can't be good cause she's the first actual character with a name they've met so far so if she's suspicious how many more people will be? Originally the chapter in Paula's palace was going to be one whole thing but I wanted to end it on a cliff hanger and not cram everything into one chapter so sorry if it seems a bit short. Anyways review review review!**


	8. The Super Fun Gamey Game!

Disclaimer- Pokémon I do not own

The super fun gamey game!

**Elizabeth's POV**

We walked behind Paula who was skipping slowly down the corridor to the next level.

"Do we have to play the rest of the game?" Billy complained loudly "I know that we won't be able to go through the gate but we'll find some way around it!" he said with a frown.

"Why do think they put a gate here in the first place genius the way around is only accessible through some special move or jumping in a random bit of the forest and hoping for the best. But apparently that forest is bad enough to get lost in even with a path! Just think of this as some kind of special training and maybe it will go quicker for you." I remarked back.

"I see you're right Liz! That maze level is like something we might have travel around when we are on our journey!" I was about to reply when I was silenced by Paula stopping ahead of us.

"This game is one of the best in my opinion! Although it does require you to have two Pokémon but I can see from your belt that's no problem!" I shared a worried look with Billy. This can't be good.

"Why do I need to use two? You see my Nidoran may be still hurt from before and my other" he took a glance at me "is otherwise preoccupied at the moment ," Paula raised her eyebrow at us

"Fine I'll lend you one and only one other Pokémon what it will be I'll get to decided!" she said with glee.

"What's the challenge?" I asked

"You'll see in a minute we're near it now!" sure enough at the end of the dark tunnel there was a small light and at the end was the next level.

**Paula's POV**

I was getting closer they were definitely hiding something but I just couldn't figure it out. I wasn't giving up; even if they won they wouldn't leave. They were the most interesting play mates so far even if they shook me up a bit. I would make them play with me, and reveal all their secrets.

**Billy POV**

Paula had led us to an obstacle course. There were hurdles, a rope mesh to crawl under, a climbing wall, monkey bars, wooden planks to run across , a plank which was made into a see-saw and a finish line. This was going to be a piece of cake. I just didn't understand why we needed our Pokémon to help us.

"The challenge is simple you complete the obstacle course! Your leg will be tied to the Pokémon of your choice, obviously with no choice for one of you; you will need to complete the obstacle course if you fall off any of the obstacles you both get automatically disqualified!" I thought over my not good option either complete the course with a 4 legged Pokémon that couldn't do half my size step or complete the course with a mystery Pokémon that I was unfamiliar with and who might not listen to me. Luckily Elizabeth decided for me.

"Do mind if I have the mystery Pokémon? I can't stand Nicolas I might be able to negotiate with it if it's been ordered not to move or something." I nodded in agreement it sounded better that way anyway despite Nicolas' small size.

"Have you made your decision?" Paula cried dramatically. We both only nodded in return. A machine shot out of the ground with a shiny poke ball in it which Elizabeth grabbed.

"Nicolas! Let do this thing!" I cried and Nicolas came out his ball gave Liz a smug look so it looked like his injury wasn't affecting him much. I saw Elizabeth with a Kakuna do they even have legs? We both tied a rope to our respective Pokémon and then to our foot.

"3! 2! 1! Go!" Paula cried. I raced around the course as fast as I could but I was slowed down by Nicolas small steps and the fact that we had to walk sideways over every plank. The only real scares we had were at the hurdles due to Nicolas' size and at the climbing wall where because he didn't have arms or hands I had to carry him and he was surprisingly heavy for something so small. We reached the goal and I began jumping in excitement and happiness and Nicolas just stood there looking smug. I was feeling confident until I turned around and saw Liz still at the start line.

**Elizabeth's POV**

"Move you stupid Kakuna!" I yelled for the millionth time but it just fired another stringshot into the ground anchoring its position. "why won't you move?"I questioned it not expecting to receive an answer.

"I mustn't disobey Paula even if it means remaining like this forever." The Kakuna said quietly.

"Why do you listen to her though?" I asked.

"She caught me. She uses me to make her dresses. She plays with me when she is lonely. Well she used to play me until she started this game. She just wants a friend but doesn't know how to talk to people. Those people she does talk to often let her down by teasing her for being rich. All she wants is to make a friend."

"Sounds rough, but why the crazy game?" I said feeling some pity for Paula.

"Even though she's lonely the way she's trying to make friends is all wrong. All these games are doing is driving people away. I want to show her she's wrong but because I'm just a Kakuna I'm too weak. If I were a Beedrill maybe because I'd be able to fly away that her actions are wrong and are just driving everyone she loves away," Kakuna explained.

"Just evolve then." I said bluntly not all problems had to be drawn out.

"I would if I could but she just uses me for this game and put a small rock around my neck to prevent me from evolving because a Kakuna is harder to move than a Beedrill." Kakuna explained and I looked closer there was a small rock around its neck.

"I see if I remove the rock and help Paula will you help me around the course?" I asked.

"Of course I so want to evolve and you seem like the type of person who could help Paula I only wish I could have done more to help her," Kakuna then disconnected all its string shots from the floor and attached on to the exit "hang on!" it cried and I grabbed its body and we catapulted towards the exit flying over all the obstacles. I crashed into Billy who was standing to close the end of the course. I removed the rock from Kakuna's neck "promise me you'll look after her better than I did." Kakuna said before glowing. I nodded in agreement. "I hope to see you again Human-Pokémon." The newly evolved Beedrill said before flying through an open window. How on earth did he know?

**Paula's POV**

What had happened? Sometimes I hate this balcony. All I could see from here was the girl whispering to my Kakuna, which had caused so many others playing this game to lose. They had the continued to complete the course in seconds due to Kakuna's string shot and then for my Pokémon to evolve and fly away. Well I had enough of these two trainers and enough of being let down by people. I saw the two trainers being raised towards my balcony and was struck by a great idea.

"Alfred!" I snapped to my butler

""Yes, what is it you require young miss?" Alfred replied.

"I want to do level 5 in the next room instead of leaving it till last." I demanded.

"B-but that room is right next to the zoo filled with dangerous Pokémon! The walls are not as strong there can't we go to one of the official game rooms where there is no danger?" He asked

"No I I'm charge here besides there won't be any real danger and I want to finish this game once and for all." I said.

**Billy's POV**

I don't know what Elizabeth had said to that Beedrill but whatever it was it had worked and now we were halfway till the end of the game! But now Elizabeth seemed to be deep in thought often glancing at Paula then me before going back to the floor. Whatever the Beedrill had said to her was obviously made her think and by the look on her face had freaked her out. Paula was acting strange as well (not that she wasn't already weird) she was no longer skipping or smiling but was doing a quite fast march down the tunnel while her butler scurried after her muttering things. Girls. I'll never understand them. We reached the end of the tunnel I couldn't help grinning at the familiar sight. It was a battlefield. Now this was fun. I looked around for my opponent and was surprised to see at the other end of the field was the very person who put us in this mess, Paula.

"I'm battling you! This will be too easy! All you do is smile and skip!" I cried with glee.

"You shouldn't underestimate her you know," Liz pointed out.

"The annoying girl has a point be prepared to feel the wrath of the Pokémon that was passed down my family since my grandmother. The Pokémon that now works with me to become the greatest fashion designer ever. My partner Wartortle!" Paula then threw a poke ball onto the centre of the field out came a Wartortle which I scanned with my Pokedex '_Wartortle the turtle Pokémon it is said that Wartortle can live up to 10,000 years and can expertly control their high speed moments through water using their ears and tail'_ that soundly fairly tough and it had been around for a while so had probably seen a lot of techniques.. If I could I would use Liz in this battle but I guess I have no choice in this matter.

"Nicolas! Let's do this thing!" I cried and my Nidoran burst out of it ball looking slightly weary already due to the crazy day's events.

"Seeing as in the charge here I'll make the first move! Wartortle use aqua jet!" Paula cried and the Wartortle had a big blob of water cover its body and shot towards Nicolas.

"Incept it with peck!" Nicolas charged forwards towards the speeding Wartortle with his horn glowing but it was too weak and he flew into the air.

"Wartortle change direction and hit it with aqua jet while it's in the air!" Paula cried.

"Nicolas! Try and recover and use poison sting when it gets close!" Nicolas looked weak in the air while Wartortle speed towards it then his eyes snapped open. "Do it now!" I yelled

"Quick Wartortle stop the attack and use water pulse to stop the poison from getting to you!" there was a huge explosion and a giant cloud of dust from which I couldn't see anything. The dust clear and Nicolas was barely standing and the Wartortle was poisoned. There were a few holes in the floor and many more in the walls and looked to see that Paula was very pale. Then I heard a huge roar and I understood why.

**Elizabeth's POV**

An Aggron. They were keeping a giant Aggron in this palace. The butler had released a few Pokémon to help keep it under control but they were mainly Pokémon from the local area and they were very weak even if they did all attack at once. There were Magbys, Spinaraks and Pidgeys all trying to attack this vast Pokémon but the Aggron was swatting them away as if they were flies. And Nicolas when you needed him was about to collapse and the impressive Wartortle was poison which left one of the strongest Pokémon left in the room as me. But I couldn't help because my secret would be revealed, but I had to otherwise Billy and Paula would get hurt and I promised I'd look after Paula. This wasn't going to be pretty.

**Paula's POV**

How could I have let this happen I was just so frustrated I even pushed Alfred away the only one who stood by me. I can't believe that I had gotten so out of control. The security Pokémon were attempting to tie it down and the boy Billy was trying to stop it attacking the smaller Pokémon. I had stopped caring at this point I knew they wouldn't last and as the giant metal claw came down upon I couldn't help thinking that I deserved this and that I would die the way I lived alone and friendless. It's just a shame in my last hours I couldn't make friends with Billy or Elizabeth who seems to have disappeared.

"CHU!" my eyes shoot open at the unfamiliar sound and I saw a tiny Pichu just barely managing to keep the Aggron's claw away from me with the help of some of the Magby using ember and the Spinarak holding its arm back with stringshot. This Pichu had brown tips on its ears and a brown tail it was unlike anything I had ever seen. "PI CHU PI!" I got the message as I knew the Pichu wouldn't be able to hold the Aggron back forever and I noticed some of the treads beginning to snap. I ran out of its path while the Pichu ran around giving different sets of Pokémon instruction. Within minutes all the bug types (which were most of the Pokémon in the room) had spun a web forest around the Aggron to restrict its moments. Then all the fire type ran underneath the Aggron's legs and did multiple small embers which was enough for it to star stamping its feet in either in rage or pain. Then the flying types used a joint gust attack which nearly caused everyone in the room to fly away. The force of the attack caused the Aggron to collapse on the ground and all the webs to fall over it then the electric types (the Pichu included) did a giant thunder wave on the Aggron which should knock it out of hours but just in case the bug types did some more string shots to tie Aggron's arms and legs. The Pichu then sat down in relief and began to glow and in its place was Elizabeth.

**Another chapter finished and thanks for the review! I hope that the Kakuna didn't seem to evil but it literally didn't know what to do and it wanted to evolve and not be used for trainer torture. The butler was named after the butler from Batman I actually really enjoyed writing Paula's place level's, originally there was going to be a scavenger hunt but it was going to have strong Pokémon in it but I wanted to do a battle scene as well and a scene with Liz saving Paula from a strong Pokémon and I didn't want to have two bits with strong Pokémon. I hope Liz isn't getting too noble too quickly. This was my first battle with another trainer so I hope that it was okay. Reviews please **


	9. The Maze Of Viridian!

Disclaimer- nomekop nwo t'nod I (insert mirror here)

The maze of Viridian!

**Billy's POV**

"I'm tired, why don't we stop and have a break?" Paula complained

"You had a break 5 minutes ago!" I complained we were walking through Viridian forest and Paula had decided to join our group making it a lot noisier. Just because of Liz being too tired to stay as a Pichu. I hate girls sometimes.

"Shut up the pair of you!" Liz yelled

"If you find it so annoying we did you agree to take her with us?" I questioned hoping that a least one person would be quiet.

"Because otherwise using her money and influence she'll show the footage of me turning from a Pichu into a human on every television in Kanto. Meaning that I get experimented on and you're one Pokémon down on the league. I've explained this at least 20 times by now!" Liz replied. She didn't need to be so specific about it.

"Besides you should be grateful Billy to be travelling with the fantastic Paula! I would have revealed any other trainer and human-Pokémon pair but because you two are so interesting I want to come along for the ride! Besides I was planning to travel anyway to become the world's greatest Pokémon fashion designer!" Paula cried smugly

"Who cares about fashion? I don't feel privileged to travel with someone who complains all day either!" I resorted back.

"I have a very good reason for stopping actually. Seeing as we're travelling together wanted to introduce our Pokémon to each other. But if you want to risk them not being familiar each other then be my guest!" Paula shouted.

"That's not a bad idea actually." Liz said

"How could you! My own Pokémon! Siding with the enemy!" I gasped.

"Excuse me. I don't belong to you I'm doing this as a favour. Beside its 2-1 making the majority rule. We take a break long enough to introduce ourselves then we move on." she explained.

"Fine but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it!" I cried and sat down on a nearby log and pouted.

**Elizabeth's POV **

At they were quiet now and I had to admit Billy had been marching like there was no tomorrow in a vain attempt to shake Paula. Billy was now looking quite stupid on a log and Paula was standing with a poke ball in her hand.

"Go Wartortle!" the Wartortle from the previous day appeared and now that I was closer I could see slight wrinkles around its eyes that normal Wartortle didn't have and didn't seem as intimidating as before, it even seemed gentle.

"Go Nicolas!" Billy said with a bit less enthusiasm and Nicolas came out of his ball and immediately glared at Alice. I decided to stay human so I could talk to both human and Pokémon at once. This curse can have its advantages. Nicolas was the first to speak

"It's the tyrant from yesterday! Stand fast so we may have a fair dual today!" the Wartortle surprised me by laughing.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I'm not much of a dueller these days expect when Paula requires it, I'm more of a helper or carer. Please to meet you both my name is Alice." She said bowing her head slightly.

"How does everyone seem to know I can understand them? How does every Pokémon know I can turn into a Pokémon?" I finally spoke with a slight frown thinking about the amount of Pokémon that knew I was a human.

"You can smell it on you little Miss. The smell may fade because of your trainer lifestyle, but for now you smell very strongly of Pichu. You can tell it not a Pokémon that the boy owns because he doesn't smell as strongly."

"This is true lady Pichu. When you and I first meat you smelt like a human that wasn't Master Billy, excuse our rudeness Miss Alice I am Nicolas and this is Lady Pichu." Nicolas confirmed.

"for the last time my name is Liz." I said in annoyance then I realised something "and why do you call Alice by her name not me by mine?" I complained.

"Because she does not dual" Nicolas said calmly as if that was all that matters. I clenched in fist in annoyance but then Billy walked up to us.

"Hey what you talking about?" he interrupted

"Probably how magnificent I am!" Paula added in causing me to sigh.

"No just introducing ourselves and Paula did you know that your Wartortle's name is Alice?" I questioned.

"O-of course I did! Come along we'd better be moving now War-Alice!"

"She didn't really know Liz she just too prideful." Alice said calmly with a hint of sadness before disappearing into the red light of her poke ball.

**Billy's POV**

After our break we continued around the forest using my Poke Nav for directions but I had to admit it was looking more and more likely that we were lost. Occasionally we ran into a bug catcher who I wanted to battle but they were all too tired from wondering around the forest for weeks. I hope that wouldn't happen to us. I saw the path we were following split ahead into 2 different paths one going into the depth of the wood were it got darker on the right, and one where the trees seemed too thin and there were plenty of Pokémon on the left.

"Follow me!" I cried before heading to the left.

"It's not like we have much choice seeing as you won't let any else even look at the map." coming from Liz muttering just on the edge of my hearing. Well they didn't need to look at the map. I had it all under control.

**Paula's POV**

I wasn't too sure if Billy knew what he was doing but I was glad he chose this route there were a lot of rare flowers and many Pokémon playing, who looked so peaceful even Billy didn't want to catch them. We approached a giant tree with a gap in the centre perfect for some shade to eat lunch. When we had finished eating and had packed everything away I saw a Pokémon that I was interested in. A Weedle crawling across the path would be great to help me make dresses so I decide to throw a ball at it as Weedle's don't need much weakening to capture. Surprisingly the Weedle burst out of the ball and started crying. Which caused the very tree we were sitting in too light up with many angry red eyes. A flock of Beedrill came out and sped toward us.

"Run!" I cried and my friend got up and we ran as fast as we could. We all leaped over a cliff to avoid being stung and then I discovered something, Liz wasn't there meaning I was stuck with the annoying Billy.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I hid behind a nearby tree and breathed a sigh of relief when the Beedrills (mainly angry mothers) flew past. Then I discovered that my companions were missing and that I had no map. Why didn't I have a Pokémon of my own to track them down with! An idea struck me and I turned into a Pichu and began sniffing.

**Billy's POV**

"This is all your faults! If you hadn't tried to catch that Weedle none of this would have happened!" I yelled.

"Well if you had took the correct path we wouldn't even be in this forest anymore!" Paula cried

"It's not like you could do a better job leading us!" I said in annoyance.

"You didn't even let me look and the map!" suddenly a red gleam interrupted our argument. The Beedrill were back! We zigzagged through trees in an attempt to lose the Beedrill. I spotted a small cave

"Quick in here!" I said quietly and I dragged Paula by the wrist into the cave and we were quiet for 5 minutes until we could no longer see any Beedrill. I took a peek outside and saw that Beedrill were looking for us in the forest. "They're looking for us outside we need to be quiet and stay here until they go away." I said leaning up against the cave wall.

"Can't we just use our Pokémon to escape?" Paula asked trying to look out of the cave. I put a hand on her should to stop her.

"We must have left them at that tree because I don't know about you but I can't find my Pokémon we really can do nothing in this situation but wait." We stayed silent after this realisation and the silence was uncomfortable.

"So what do you do as a Pokémon fashion designer" I finally burst out "I've never heard of it before."

"I'm glad your interested" Paula said with a slight smile "I design clothes for Pokémon but because there so many different Pokémon there so many different types of fashion. It's difficult to keep the fashion you design fresh and interesting." She said causing me to blink in confusion.

"Sounds complicated," I said not really understanding why she needed to travel for fashion.

"It's not as difficult as winning the league." She said with a small smile.

"It's difficult in its own way though isn't it?" Another silence passed between us.

"Why do want to win the league without any help?" she asked

"Because I want my parent to release I'm independent and not have to rely on them for money I also want to prove to my rival I can do it." I said thinking about my family for the first time I realised how much I missed them.

"Isn't using Liz sort of getting help though?" She asked

"In a way. I accidently caught her and since then, we've travelled together. It's not really like getting her help because I feel like, she needs this just as much as I do really, though I do owe her a lot for agreeing." Suddenly we heard a familiar sound.

"CHU!" we went outside and saw Liz shocking every Beedrill she could and with her was Nicolas and Alice! Liz began glowing and changed back into a human with a grin.

"I finally found you two! I wanted to pick up the bag first so that we could get out of this forest!" she said holding up both our bags. Suddenly all the Beedrills were awake and floating behind Liz causing me and Paula to pale. "Let me guess the Beedrill haven't fainted and are right behind me?" me and Paula both nodded causing Liz to pale. "Right." She said calmly "RUN!" she yelled. We ran as fast as we could while holding onto each other so we wouldn't get separated again. After running so fast for a while we suddenly found ourselves clear of trees and of Beedrills. We had made it out of the natural maze!

"We're out! We're out!" I and Paula yelled while hugging each other.

"Well somebody's gotten close while I've been away." Liz said slyly causing me and Paula to let go of each other quickly and turn away from each other, while heat crept up on my face. Paula's actually not that bad, for a girl.

**There's nothing like getting chased by Beedrill to start a beautiful friendship. Sorry if the chapters a bit dull but I didn't want them to argue for the rest of the story and I wanted to introduce Alice properly even if she only appeared for a paragraph. They will still argue but consider each other friends now. Please review **


	10. Battle of the Mouse Pokemon

Disclaimer-me do not own Pokémon

Battle of the mouse Pokémon

**Elizabeth's POV**

We were currently in a line for some kind of battle tournament and not at some gym like I had expected. Billy had checked out the gym while I was asleep and came back screaming that we needed more training, because it was a rock gym and Nicolas couldn't take all of the Pokémon out by using the same move. Billy also wanted to use both the Pokémon he'd caught at his first match. So now we're standing in a line in the boiling heat (it was probably even hotter of me with fur) for Billy to register in some tournament where most people would probably have bug types which I was sick of seeing. At least Paula's sitting in the shade of the tournament building; I wanted to go as well but apparently those who are checking your team need to see the Pokémon as well. This should be fun.

**Billy's POV**

I looked at the tournament building with determined eyes. This would be it. This is where people will start shouting my name across the land if I won. Okay it was just a small tournament which they held every year but it was important to me and the sake of our training that we won. The tournament changes every year so no one knows what to expect. I can't wait. Even the constant sighing of my Pokémon in my hood couldn't change my mood! Every time we move forward I had to stop myself from charging, and eventually we reached the entrance. I sighed up eagerly and with ease, we were in!

**Paula's POV**

The stadium was absolutely packed and everyone began screaming the second the competitor walked in, using the binocular I brought I easily located Billy and Liz. I could resist the crowd's spirit and begun cheering as well. Suddenly a man flew in a small disk and the crowd's cheers intensified.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to this year battle tournament sponsored by the Umbra company, if you want it they have it! I'm your host Kevin Flystar!" The crowd was at its intensive peak and I had to put my hands over my ears just to hear myself think. "Now the moment you've all been waiting for!" as loud as the crowd had become they were suddenly silenced by this line, "This year's tournament will be double-double-then single all the way!" The crowd erupted in cheering but I was confused what did that mean for the tournament? "For those who don't know about the tournament rules, and for those who simply want to hear it again listen up! Double-double-single is where every trainer gets paired up with a random partner! You will both then battle with other double teams. If you both get knocked out then unfortunately we'll have to say goodbye." The crowd awed at this statement. "Then after two double battles with your partner you get spilt up then it's an all out fight to the finals!" the crowd erupted in cheering once again and there was the sound of trumpets and drums below. I was wondering who would be Billy and Liz's partner?

**Billy's POV**

I had been given number 13 which might be unluckily but I'll guess I'll find out once I see my partner. I was looking desperately for number 24 which was very difficult in the crowd of trainers. However then I heard an unfamiliar voice.

"Thirteen it's you!" I was then squeezed into a hug.

"I can't breathe!" I managed to choke out.

"Sorry!" I was let go and took in my partner. She had short pink hair in a bob cut, with green eyes and was wearing jeans with a stripy long sleeved top and by her side was a small brown-yellow Pokémon I got out my Pokedex _'Sandshrew the mouse Pokémon, Sandshrew has a very rough hide and can survive a fall of great height by curling up in a ball' _sound like a tough opponent I thought with a grin. I saw the girl doing the exact same thing with Liz and she saw me looking and hid the Pokedex behind her back with a grin. "Pleased to meet you! My name's Mia and this is my partner Sandshrew! Together we're going to win this tournament and then move onto the league!"" She said in excitement causing me to smile slightly.

"That won't be happening cause I'm planning to win both this tournament and the league!" I stated with a grin.

"Really I guess this will be the start of a beautiful rivalry," she said returning my grin. We then shook hands and turned to the board looking to see who our first battle would be against. We were battling against Phil and Pete who were both bug catchers. This would be easy.

I and Mia thrashed our opponents I used Liz for the first battle and Nicolas for the second while Mia used her Sandshrew for all the battles. I was sad to be split up from her she was very strong and would sure to be a tough competitor when we battled. We both spilt up battling many trainers and neither of us lost and finally it was the semi-finals and I was battling Mia to be the best.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I was exhausted they had a half an hour break between each battle but that didn't stop me from getting tired and now we were battling the only Pokémon that was strong and not a bug type. Mia stood on the opposite end of the field with a slight smile on her face.

"Go Nicolas!" Billy cried releasing his poison type.

"Go Gastly! A Pokémon that looked like a ball of fog appeared

"What a Gastly? You never said you one of those!" Billy cried in shock.

"It's always good to have the element of surprise like now use smog!" Mia cried and Gastly opened its mouth causing a thick black haze to come out and cover the battlefield.

"Nicolas listen out for it using your ears!" Billy yelled causing Mia to grin.

"Good luck listening for a ghost type!" she taunted "Gastly use lick!"

"Nicolas use poison sting!" Billy retaliated running out of options.

"Do really know that little?"Mia cried in disbelief "Gastly is part poison type so those type of moves have no effect on it!"

"Fine then Nicolas listen out for Gastly and use Peck when it gets close!" Billy yelled

"Tut, tut, tut you really shouldn't yell your moves so loudly. Use disable Gastly! Now your Nidoran can do nothing but poison and fighting moves this match is over!" sure enough the smog cleared and Nicolas was on the floor and the Gastly was floating there having sustained no damage. I was up and I walked on the field warily. Mia smirked and held up two Poké balls "Gastly return! Go Sandshrew!"she cried releasing her ground type. Great so know my chances of winning are getting better and better with a type disadvantage.

"You have no chance little Pichu I watched you before know don't know a single none electric type attacks you don't stand a chance against me" the Sandshrew taunted but I already knew that I was basically doomed so let's just get this over with.

"Sandshrew use scratch!" Mia cried I could see the hint of victory in her eyes.

"Liz use your speed to dodge it!" Billy cried like I was just going to stand there and get hit. I managed to dodge out of the way but the Sandshrew spun around and slashed at me nearly hitting my stomach while I jumped backwards trying to dodge. It kept swiping and slashing and I used my small size to get away. I knew I couldn't keep dodging forever so I used Thundershock hoping that at close range it would do some damage. Sandshrew just went into a ball took my attack came out and then slashed me into the air causing me to go flying. I was in a lot of pain then I got a flash of inspiration. I landed on all fours and charged forwards toward Sandshrew ignoring Billy's cries of protest and Mia's shocked look.

"Sandshrew use scratch when it gets close!" just what I was hoping for. I took the attack and ignored the pain then I held Sandshrew's claw gave it a grin and shocked for all my worth. My idea was if I can shock it when it's not in a ball then it will take some damage and sure enough it was crying in pain and protest and tried to shake me off. Eventually I ran out of juice and we both collapsed and the stadium was silent just as my world faded to blackness.

**Billy's POV**

"Both Pokémon have fainted so with result of 2-1 the winner is Mia!" I picked up Liz I was sad that we had lost but at least Liz had taken down a Pokémon with a type advantage to her. Plus both my Pokémon had both gotten some decent training in so we were ready for the gym. Mia came over and shook my hand.

"That was a great battle I was overconfident because I had a type advantage I'm surprised your Pichu took out my Sandshrew." She said with a grin.

"You're really strong just know that you won't be winning next time!" I proclaimed.

"Don't count on it." Mia smiled and walked away and was given a trophy which she held up making the crowd roar with excitement. I looked on with a smile knowing one day that would be me and tomorrow I would prove it in my gym battle.

**Next chapter will finally be the gym battle and today we introduced one of Billy's friendly rivals Mia! I skipped most of the tournament because otherwise it would be far too long and even if I broke it up it would have been boring. I change my stories summary so sorry if you had a hard time finding it but I wanted more than one person to read this story by the time I had finished writing it (but thank you to that one person for reviewing because otherwise I would think that no one reads this). Speaking of rivals we still haven't seen Kane but he will appear in 3 or 4 chapters please review **


	11. Let's Rock and Roll!

Disclaimer- I-do-not-own-pok-e-mon

Lets rock and roll!

**Billy's POV**

I stood in front of the building made to look like it was made of stone never before I had felt more ready for a match. This was what we had been preparing for the first milestone in our journey. I gingerly walked in and was surround by rocks the perfect field for an ambush. In front of me was a young tanned man with spiky black hair training with a Geodude. He was attempt to swing and hit the Pokémon while the Pokémon attempt to swing and hit him. It was intensive training there was no doubt about it. I walked forward a stumbled on a nearby rock causing Paula and Liz to snigger and the training to be stopped.

"Who are you?" the man asked in a booming voice.

"I'm Billy from Viridian city and I've come to challenge the gym leader to a battle!" I cried

"I see I am Forrest and I accept your challenge, how many Pokémon will you be using?" I was confused the sign outside the gym had definitely said another name.

"Forrest?" Paula voiced for me "I thought the gym leader was Brock?"

"Yes but he decided to become a Pokémon doctor* I took over the gym for him. Are you having a battle with me as well?"

"No I'm just a spectator," Paula explained

"There is a designated audience booth in the stands, so Billy may ask again how many Pokémon will you be using?" Forrest asked while Paula hurried towards the stands.

"I'm using two Pokémon," I said swallowing my fears.

"That's interesting most people come in with a whole team, but then again most people are bug catchers." Forrest said with a slight smile "how about we use 2 Pokémon each only. It's your first gym battle right?" Forrest asked me causing me to nod in surprise.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"It's just a vibe I got besides lots of people have their first gym battle here." He said with a smile. "So let's make your first gym battle memorable by increasing the difficulty a bit so you know what to expect in the future. How about we each send out a Pokémon each and we can't substitute it unit the opponent's has fainted. Once one battle is over we have to use our other Pokémon and if it faints but your previous Pokémon didn't you can use the previous Pokémon. Do you understand?" He asked causing me to grin.

"I think so it sounds difficult but that just makes the challenge more worthwhile!" I cried and Forrest walked to the other side of the room. My first gym battle was about to begin.

"Go Graveler!" Forrest cried sending out a boulder-like Pokémon with four arms that was easily disguised against the rocky field.

"Nicolas let's do this thing!" I decided to send out my trusty Nidoran and he looked ready for a fight.

"You can have the first move." Forrest said calmly.

"Nicolas use double kick!"I yelled and Nicolas charged towards the giant boulder.

"You think we'll just let that hit?" Forrest cried "Graveler grab that Nidoran!"

"Nicolas try to dodge it and hit!" I yelled Nicolas continued charging forwards while the Graveler attempted to grab him Nicolas managed to use his small size to dodge. Nicolas then jumped into the air sailing over Graveler's arm. Nicolas kicked and hit the Graveler once causing it some pain but while Nicolas was still in the air Graveler managed to grab him with its rocky arm. "Nicolas try and break free using Peck and Poison sting!" I yelled while Nicolas struggled in Graveler's fierce grip.

"Graveler throw it then use rock throw!" Graveler managed to throw Nicolas but not before Nicolas managed to hit it with a poison sting causing Graveler to glow purple meaning that we had successfully poisoned him! My happiness was short lived when Nicolas then went flying through the air while Graveler picked up a big boulder and threw it at Nicolas.

"Nicolas use Double kick to break that rock!" Nicolas managed to turn in the air and started kicking the rock with all four legs with speed I didn't think was possible. It managed to crack down the middle but then Graveler appeared beneath the rock with a grin making me and Nicolas panic.

"Use smack down Graveler!" Graveler threw a small rock at Nicolas which hit him on the forehead causing his eyes to roll back and him to plummet to earth. Then Graveler glowed purple due to poison and lost his concentration meaning he started to come down as well. They both stood up looking very weak.

"Nicolas use Double kick once more!" I yelled and Nicolas charged forwards once more a lot slower than before while Graveler stood there trying not to collapse due to poison.

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this but it's worth it if I take out one of your Pokémon! Graveler use self-destruct!" Forrest cried and my eyes widened in fear.

"Nicolas! Get out of there!" I cried while Graveler started to glow and the field became white. There was a huge explosion blowing many rocks away and I struggled to stay upright due to the force of the attack. I couldn't see either Pokémon, Graveler was sure to be knocked out but what about Nicolas was he okay? Eventually the smoke cleared and I saw both Pokémon on the ground fainted. Now I would have to use Liz against something that she was not strong against with no one for a backup. I was feeling whole less confident that was for sure.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I was full of dread I had just seen Nicolas taken out by a Pokémon he had an advantage over and now I was next. I walked on the field with my head low ignoring Forrest's laughter. "What's so funny?" Billy cried.

"You really think you stand a chance with that I'm sorry but if I were you I'd just give up now!" he said wiping a tear from his eye (he has eyes?).

"We'll never give up no matter how hard a battle!" Billy yelled and I sighed. Thanks for signing my death warrant Billy.

"Your choice then. Onix let's finish this quickly!" Forrest yelled and a giant snake like Pokémon burst out towering above me. I wondered briefly how a Pokémon that big could fit in a Poké ball then I shook my head. I tried to turn and walk away but Billy stopped me and used his cute look. Must...resist... cuteness...cant...Battle...Giant...Snake...

I was surprised to find myself in a battle stance facing the Onix who was also laughing at me,

"They're just giving me easier Pokémon to fight every time!" he laughed.

"Liz take that Onix down a peg or two use Thundershock!" Billy yelled. I gave it a shock and Forrest and his Onix smiled and Onix took the attack glowing yellow with my electricity.

"I'm sorry did you just do something?" Onix taunted with a smile.

"Onix use iron tail!" Forrest yelled (why do they always yell?) Onix's tail glowed and it came crashing towards me I ran out of the way and saw the tail was following me. I jumped between rocks and boulder trying to hide but it was difficult hiding from something that can see the entire gym.

"Liz jump on Onix's tail!" do what? Well it can't be anymore suicidal then what I'm doing already. I leapt on Onix's tail and clung for dear life.

"Onix shake it off by using rock throw!" Forrest yelled and I tightened my grip. The tail began shaking and it felt like I was in an earthquake. Then the rocks began flying at me and I began freaking out.

"Liz dodge those rocks and try and get to Onix's head!" Billy yelled and I ran up Onix's body barely dodging all the rocks he was throwing at me and tried not to fall off. Once I got to Onix's head Billy yelled "now grab Onix's horn and shock him!" I did and surprisingly he actually felt my attack but it still wasn't powerful enough, as Onix managed to swat me away with an Iron tail. I went flying and was only stopped by a very hard boulder. I groaned in pain and managed to get up just in time to roll away from another Iron tail heading for me. I had a flash of inspiration and jumped onto Onix once again and headed up his long body. I stopped half way and stuck my tail into one of the cracks and shocked him once more. Surely underneath the rocks the body would be softer and can receive more pain. Onix started screaming in pain and Forrest and Billy were too shocked to give orders. Sensing Onix was at its limit I jumped off and gave it a shock for good measure causing the giant snake to collapse, we had won the first gym battle.

**Billy's POV **

I stood there frozen to the spot not really realising the fact we had won. Liz walked over to me and grinned and something clicked in my mind and I scooped her up in my hand and lifted her to the air.

"We won! We won!" I forget that Liz wouldn't appreciate my picking her up and got a zap so I wouldn't make the same mistake again.

"Congratulations Billy I didn't think you had it in you," Paula said with a smile as she came down from the viewing area.

"Yes Billy you are a great trainer and are truly worthy of this badge," Forrest said in his hand was a small metal badge that looked like a rock. "This is the boulder badge, the first of many badge needed to complete the league now that you have this, trainers everywhere have to accept you have some skill. Make sure that it does not fill your head with confidence as their will be trainers out there who have less badges but are stronger. Like today I underestimated you because of a type advantage." Forrest said with a smile.

"Thank you so much Forrest I won't forget your advice! I've got the boulder badge! The league better watch out because I'm coming for them!" I yelled to the sky.

***those of you who don't know at the end of diamond and pearl Brock changed his dream from a breeder to a doctor**

**Billy got his first badge originally I was going to make him lose then do the tournament with Mia but he was always going to lose against Mia and it would have been sly if he lost twice. Please review**


	12. You snooze you lose!

Disclaimer- you may think that I own Pokémon but I don't

You snooze you lose!

**Paula's POV**

We were on route 3, it was 5.00 in the morning and it was all Billy's fault. Last night when we went back to the Pokémon centre after Billy's victory there was a newsflash that a record number of Abra had been seen on route 3. This meant that Billy was determined to catch this elusive Pokémon and because they are even less common in the day, we had been walking in a patch of grass for an hour since 4.00 in the morning with not even a single Abra seen so far. At least Liz could sleep in Billy's hood. Suddenly Billy was stilled because in front of us snoozing under a tree was an Abra. We had to be careful not to startle it as Abras are infamous for their teleporting away, but Billy didn't seem to understand this.

"Go Poké ball!" he yelled and the Abra teleported away before it even hit. The Abra had the cheek to teleport right in front of us and sleep barely a meter away. "Get in the ball!" he threw another Poké ball this time the Abra teleported right onto Billy's head. I couldn't help sniggering. "Liz!" Billy cried in frustration "Shock it!" Liz woke up from Billy's hood and looked at the Abra sleepily before shocking it. Unfortunately it teleported away once again meaning the only one who was shocked was Billy. The Abra reappeared in front of us and a very annoyed, tired and hurt Billy glared at it. The Abra looked like it was going to teleport away once and for all "you're not escaping that easily!" Billy cried while dashing toward it managing to grab the Abra's tail and I managed to grab Billy's foot wherever Abra was going it was taking all of us with it. We appeared in a different part of route 3 and Abra was looking tired (even though it was asleep) and Billy sensed this and threw another poke ball. This time Abra either didn't or couldn't teleport away and the ball connected with its forehead. The ball shock once, then again and... Click! "I caught an Abra!" Billy shouted to the sky.

"Yippy for you can we please get some sleep now?" I begged and we set up camp for the night getting some well earned rest.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I woke up to the sound of Billy looking up a Pokémon on his Pokedex _'Abra the Psi Pokémon it has the ability to read minds, and sleep 18 hours a day if it senses danger it teleports away' _

"That sounds awesome!" he cried to the sky and I sat up and looked at him "Liz your awake! We've got a new team mate!"

"When did that happen?" I asked rubbing my eyes to clear the sleep.

"Last night I want to find out its name and for you and Nicolas to get to know it! Go Abra and Nicolas!" out came a familiar Nidoran and unfamiliar Abra. I couldn't help think of the last time I did this I ended up in a fight. Luckily Nicolas spoke first.

"Good day Lady Pichu and lady Abra. May I ask thee lady Abra for thy name? My name is Nicolas and that vagabond is Lady Pichu and our trainer is the kind Master Billy."My mouth dropped open and I glared at Nicolas. The Abra said nothing I decided to give it a try.

"My name isn't lady Pichu it's Elizabeth call me Liz or Lizzy, just ignore Nicolas he likes being proper," I said glaring at Nicolas once more. The Abra still said nothing this was getting slightly frustrating.

"zzz..." the Abra was asleep! I know they sleep half the time but can't they use telepathy?

"How are things going?" Billy asked eager to get to know his Pokémon himself.

"The Abra doesn't seem to talking to us for some reason I can't even get her name out of her shes too busy sleeping."

"That's weird maybe she's just shy." Billy said in confusion "She sounds a bit like you with the sleeping though Liz." Billy said while grinning causing me to glare at him. "She probably needs a chance to get to know us!" he said happily ignoring me.

"Hey you!" an unfamiliar voice cried it was a bug catcher I sighed thankful that I couldn't battle him. I was sick of all bug catchers. "Let's have a battle!" the bug catcher cried.

"Okay it might just be what Abra need to get to know us!" Billy cried with glee

"Fine I'll be the judge" Paula said (when did she wake up?)

"Go Caterpie!" the bug catcher cried (predictable choice)

"Abra! Let's do this thing!" Abra surprisingly didn't move from her spot. "Abra what's wrong?" Billy questioned.

"zzz..." was the only reply causing Billy, Paula and me to sigh in disappointment.

"If you won't come to us we'll come to you!" the bug catcher cried "Caterpie use tackle!" the bug crawled as fast as it could towards Abra who teleported onto Billy's head.

"Abra! You're meant to teleport when I say and not onto my head! What if I get hurt by an attack?" Billy asked.

"That might be the point." I contributed causing me to get glared at by Billy.

"Caterpie use stringshot to pin down that Abra!" Caterpie unleashed its best sticky thread and at the last minute Abra teleported causing Billy to get a stringshot in the face. He struggled to get it off his face. "You're a rubbish trainer you can't even control your Pokémon! Come on Caterpie we'll find someone worthwhile to battle against!" the bug trainer then stormed away leaving a shocked and sticky faced Billy. Once Billy was freed by my and Paula's efforts he unleashed all his rage on the asleep Abra.

"Why won't you listen to me? I'm not a bad trainer ask anyone! I'm sure you and I can become great friends if you listen to me!" Abra didn't react and stayed asleep. "That Bug catcher was right I can't even control my own Pokémon!" Billy cried in frustration.

"It could be worse." Paula said causing Billy to glare at her and me to look in confusion at her. "Well it could. That Abra can teleport away she could leave at any time! The fact that she's staying with you has to mean something right?" she asked.

"I guess you're right I won't give up trying to become friends with her that's for sure!" Billy cried with happiness, he sure can recover quickly. "Abra I won't give up on you! No matter what you're coming with us so you may as well tell us your name. I'm Billy the future champ! This is Liz your team mate and Paula who's travelling with us!" There was silence and Abra didn't speak.

"_Kyra,"_ I heard an unfamiliar voice in my mind.

"Did you hear that?" I asked Billy and Paula.

"Hear what?" Billy asked.

"I didn't hear anything." Paula said. I looked around for the source of the voice and my eyes locked onto Abra who nodded at me.

"Abra's name is Kyra." I stated causing Billy to grin and Paula to smile. Our travelling group just got a bit bigger.

**A short chapter but an important one introducing Kyra the Abra! Billy has a Pokémon who doesn't actually obey him! I always wondered why Pokémon who disobey don't just leave the trainer. Sorry for all the rip of bug catchers (I actually like bug Pokémon but hardly ever have one in my team) but at this point in the game everyone is a bug catcher so you'd probably be sick of them in this situation as well. Please review **


	13. Enter Rival: Kane Humphries!

Disclaimer-I don't own Pokémon deal with it.

Enter rival: Kane Humphries!

**Billy's POV**

I raced after the Clefairy determined to not let it escape this time as we were in Mt Moon and had seen one of the most exclusive non-legendary Pokémon in Kanto. Paula raced after me while Liz clung to my hood for dear life. There had to be a reason this Pokémon was so sought after because right now it looked quite girly as it was pink and was keeping ahead of us by skipping. Suddenly I heard a voice that was eerily familiar.

"Go Poke ball!" the Clefairy we had been chasing for the past hour was sucked into a poke ball all I could do was stare and pray it would break out. The ball shook once, twice and...Click! I was filled with rage and turned in the direction that the ball was thrown.

"What do you think the big idea is? I've been chasing that Clefairy for an hour!" I demanded of the trainer who I couldn't really see due to the darkness of the cave.

"I'm so sorry I didn't know anyone else was following it here you can- Billy?" I turned at the sound of my name and properly looked at the trainer. If it was possible my blood boiled even more. It was my all time rival whom I had swore to defeat. Kane Humphries.

**Paula's POV**

I was out of breath from all the running but I dared not breathe too loudly due to the tense atmosphere coming from Billy. The other boy looked delighted to see Billy.

"Kane..." Billy managed to growl out. This was Kane?

"Billy it's great to see you!" Kane said happily. He wasn't what I expected that's what for sure. He looked very similar to Billy. He had the same spiky hair, similar clothes and they were the same height. Kane had friendly green eyes and blond hair contrasting Billy's dark hair and blue eyes. "You must be Billy's travelling friend!" he said to me, he seemed very polite and friendly.

"Yes my name is Paula," I confirmed.

"Nice to meet you!" he shook my hand eagerly then turned his attention back to Billy.

"How have you been?" How many Pokémon have you caught? Do you have any badges?" Kane questioned oblivious to the look Billy was giving him. Liz chose this moment to stand on Billy's shoulder to get a better look at the action. "Is that that your Pichu Billy? It's so cute!" Kane picked up Liz before I could warn him and he got a zap. Surprisingly he didn't get the message and continued holding Liz. "It's got a lot of energy that's for sure!"Kane said with a smile while getting zapped. This was the last straw for Billy.

"Let go of Liz Kane!" he lunged forward and grabbed Liz like she was a toy causing her to give him a zap as well.

"I'm sorry Billy are you still mad about the Clefairy? Here." Surprisingly he held out the Poké ball that contained the rare Clefairy.

"I don't want your pity! It's against my code! I don't know how you can treat a Pokémon you just caught like that! I demand a battle!" Billy erupted. I don't understand why though because Kane was just being polite and he knew that.

"A battle? I don't want to battle against my friend." Friend? What happened to greatest rival? I was so confused.

"You'll have to battle against me eventually in the league!" Billy yelled in anger.

"Good point. First though may I have something to eat? I've been in here for a week." Kane asked politely clutching his stomach slightly.

"NO!" Billy yelled causing me to stare at him in shock.

"Billy be polite," I scolded him "besides if he can't think properly how do you expect to have a proper battle? " So we had an early lunch (for all of which Billy pouted) and then it was time to have the battle.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I didn't get what Billy's problem was. I saw no reason to be so angry with this boy all the time yet here I was waiting for an unnecessary battle.

"Is a 2 on 2 battle okay Billy?" Kane asked still smiling.

"It's fine with me" Billy replied with a slight grin "I'll send out my Pokémon first! Go Nicolas!" Nicolas was looking determined as usual.

"Go Josephine!" to my surprise out came a female Nidoran who had a hardened look and immediately Nicolas's stance broke down and he pawned at the ground nervously with a blush.

"My lady. I feel like at this very moment that we met the gods were laughing at the irony of our fate. For you see we are like Romeo and Juliet (how Nicolas knew Shakespeare I had no idea) star crossed lovers captured by rival masters doomed to be enemies! If we preserver maybe our masters will let us be together forever!" Josephine said nothing in fact she looked even more unimpressed then before.

"Josephine! Use peck!"Kane yelled and the female Nidoran charged forwards towards Nicolas.

"Nicolas dodge it and use double kick!" Billy shouted.

"You expect me to hurt my one true love?" Nicolas cried in horror "I thought better of you Master-" Nicolas was cut off as Josephine rammed his side. "So my lady likes duelling does she? We are truly a match made in heaven I will have to impress you with my duelling skills!" Nicolas cried and he finally got into a fighting stance.

"Josephine use fury attack!" Kane yelled and Josephine ran toward Nicolas with her horn glowing.

"Nicolas fend her off with your fury attack!" Both Nidorans charged forwards and their horns got locked in a battle of strength.

"You are everything I hoped my love would be, beautiful with a fiery attitude for battle!" Nicolas cried, but he only seemed to be annoying Josephine further. Nicolas with his slightly bigger horn managed to knock Josephine's horn to the side and then jabbed Josephine in the side, causing her to slide some distance across the rocky floor. Nicolas pumped up his chest and looked at her and recoiled slightly when Josephine glared in pure hatred at him.

"Horn attack!" both boys yelled in sync. Both Nidorans charged forwards once more and got locked in another horn battle but with a much more powerful attack. Nicolas got the upper hand once again causing Josephine to go flying then it finally seemed to click to Nicolas what he had done.

"Josephine! Josephine! Are you okay?" he ran up to Josephine and saw that she had fainted. Before he got a chance to apologise she return to her ball causing Nicolas to whimper sadly. Billy of course was oblivious to everything that had just happened.

"Great job Nicolas! Now return and get some rest!" Nicolas just looked at Billy sadly before disappearing into the depths of the ball. "Liz you're up!" Billy yelled. I hope Kane doesn't send out a male Pichu and I magically fall in love with him, being a Pichu was bad enough.

"Go Charlie!" The newly caught Clefairy burst out of its ball and I was surprised by the fact it was a boy. I'll never assume anything which is pink with wings is female only again.

"Liz start things off with a Thunder wave!" I started to gather my electrical energy to cause sure paralysis.

"Charlie bounce out the way!" Charlie managed to one of his best jumps which made him look like he was flying. "Now use pound!" he came flying towards me with his fist glowing.

"Liz run behind a boulder to dodge!" I did just that and Charlie hit the rock causing it to break "Liz now use Thundershock!"

"Try to get away Charlie!" Kane cried but Charlie was too close to me so I zapped him with all my worth and surprisingly Charlie fainted. Well that was easy.

**Paula's POV**

I was surprised that Liz had managed to take out Charlie with one attack but then again it was probably tired from all that running we did and hadn't been properly trained. This didn't faze Billy though.

"We won! In your face Kane!" Billy gloated, he felt quite mean to me now. Kane was unfazed by this however and gave Billy a smile.

"Congratulations on your victory Billy!" Kane held out his hand in a handshake. Billy's face darkened and his fist clenched in rage.

"Congratulate me when I'm the champion," Billy said darkly before running off. I ran after him but couldn't help thinking that Billy was harbouring some dark secrets inside.

_**Billy's turned to the dark side! Did I surprise you with Kane's personality? This was a fairly surprising chapter with hidden darkness in the background and lots of unanswered question. Why does Billy hate Kane so much even though Kane is nice? Will Nicolas ever woo Josephine? Will I ever get another reviewer? Stay tuned, (and please review) to find out (but even if I get no reviews I'll continue writing) **_


	14. A Single Tear in the Ocean

Disclaimer- I don't own Pokémon

A single tear in the ocean

**Paula's POV**

Billy had been acting weird ever since we met Kane. He had been a lot meaner often demanding we wake earlier, walk further and train more. Liz and I were sick of it but every time we brought it up Billy glared at us and shouted,

"Leave then!" I had managed to convince Liz we couldn't leave him in this state and although reluctant she had agreed. We had arrived in Cerulean the day before but Billy insisted that there was no time for rest and decided to challenge the gym the next day, when his Pokémon would still be tired from the long trek. So now we were trekking at full speed towards the gym. I hope Billy snaps out of whatever he's going through soon.

**Billy's POV**

I was determined to win at this gym quickly and move on. I would beat Kane whatever the cost. Because of our speed I nearly walked into a sign and had to stop myself from exploding. Which I just about managed when I saw what the sign was 'Misty the tomboyish Mermaid'. The second gym and it was a water type gym. This was just perfect I thought with a slightly evil grin while Paula looked at me with worry. I burst the doors open time causing many people inside to turn and look at me most of who were swimming in a giant pool. "I demand a battle with the gym leader!" I shouted loudly.

"Well if you weren't so eager to get your journey over with, you'd be able to tell that you're looking at her. I am Misty." A female voice replied coolly. I turned a saw a redhead who was about Liz's age who was wearing a bikini for a swim suit who looked slightly wet from swimming.

"Well I've travelled all this way just to have a battle with you I course I want to get started!" I resorted getting a bit angry already.

"Very well how many Pokémon do you want to use?" Misty said coolly

"I thought you decided that!" I screamed in impatience.

"I do usually but recently trainers don't have the number of Pokémon that I want to battle, or they want to train more in a battle. So I've taken to asking what they want to prevent arguments. Obviously most want a one on one battle and they use an electrical or grass Pokémon" Misty rolled her eyes at this "I usually thrash people that ignorant!" Misty said with a slight grin.

"Fine I'll have a two on two battle!" I demanded.

"Your choice then!" Misty said with a grin she was really getting on my nerves now. "Let's do this go Seaking!"A Pokémon was released into the pool and I couldn't see what it was, no matter though. "Let's do this thing quickly Liz!" To my surprise Liz was still standing by my side glaring at me not looking like she was going to move anytime soon. "Liz!" I hissed "what are you doing?"while she folded her arms. This really wasn't the time to be rebellious I thought with annoyance.

"What's going on over there?" Misty cried on the other side of the pool.

"Nothing just telling my Pokémon it's okay because it's nervous!" I replied with a forced grin I then grabbed Liz by the neck and threw her on the nearest floating platform which was just far enough that she couldn't get back without help.

"What did you do that for?" Misty demanded with rage.

"Well we're on tight schedule I can't spend all day reassuring one Pokémon," I said with a slight grin happy that the battle would soon get on the way despite Liz's stubbornness. To my surprise Misty's face darkened and she was trembling slightly with her fist clenched.

"Seaking I feel sorry for that Pokémon but we have to show this brat the error of his ways! We cannot give him anything as noble as a gym badge to him!" her words shook me but I just wanted to win without my Pokémon being stupid that wasn't too much to ask was it?

"Seaking use horn attack!" at last the battle was starting I thought with a grin.

"Liz jump on another platform to dodge!" Surprisingly Liz now sat down with her arms and legs crossed "Move you idiot! You'll get hurt!" I cried in annoyance and fear. Liz just managed to glare sadly at me and with that managed to shake me more than Misty's words ever could. Then after that split second she went flying through the air screaming in pain and landed in the pool. "Liz!" I screamed how could be such an idiot I didn't realise that on my quest for revenge was driving even more of my friends away. I jumped in the pool desperate to save her desperate to tell her and Paula that I was so sorry. I swam through the salt water which made my eyes sting but I didn't dare close them. I saw a flash of yellow and using my last burst of energy I swam toward it, grabbed Liz and headed to the surface to get help. I burst through the surface gasping for air I climbed onto the nearest platform. I saw Liz wasn't breathing. "Please wake up Liz I'm so sorry..."

**Elizabeth's POV**

There were many voices, some crying, some not saying anything at all around me. I tried to open my eyes to see who the voices were but I couldn't summon the energy. I wondered where I was last thing I remember was the gym... and Billy... right I had took that attack I don't know what had possessed me I had never swum as a Pichu so I didn't know how. I knew I'd put myself in danger. I saw the golden eye's of the white Pichu though the voices and the noises and I rolled my eyes. Great just want I wanted to see the Pokémon who put me in this situation when I was dying. Was I dying? Mysteriously I was drawn into its eyes and I found myself in a foggy valley with many black shapes. Billy was there, so were Paula, Mia and Kane forming some kind of line with black shapes surrounding them. Then the white Pichu was on a cliff high above the scene and I was drawn once again into its eyes. This time I saw a background covered I fog and I could barely see anything as an unfamiliar small girl crying over an unknown boy's body "I'm so sorry..." she said while crying. Then the world began fade to blackness and everything began to swirl and I felt sick.

"!" what I could have sworn I heard something and I could barely see a pinprick of light and the world had stopped fading. "Liz!" Billy's annoying voice called. Couldn't he leave me alone I felt so peaceful? "Liz!" he called again and the light grew a little bigger. "Liz come back to us!" Why should I? He was the one who put me here in the first place. The light faded slightly as I thought this. "Liz I'm so sorry..."Billy's voice echoed throughout the dark abyss. I thought about the girl who couldn't apologise because her friend had died. The light began zooming towards me before I got any second thoughts.

**Billy's POV**

"Liz please..." I begged with salty tears coming down my face while a worried Paula and Misty looked on. Suddenly I heard coughing and spluttering. Wiped my tears and looked down at the Liz with wonder in my eyes while Liz glared back at me. "You're alive!" I screamed and spun her around the air getting zapped in the process but never letting her go. "I'm so sorry! I forgot my promise to take care of you because of my stupid rivalry!" I looked at both Liz and Paula when I said this "I promise I won't let you guy's down again!" I said with a determined glint in my eyes.

"I'm looking forward to a battle with the improved you. I would suggest training both body and mind on route 25 maybe seeing on the way Bill before coming back here." Misty suggested with a smile. "I'm sorry to put Pichu's life in danger I didn't know it couldn't swim" she said with deep regret in her eyes.

"I'm sorry too to everyone they were tired and that might have been why Liz suffered so badly." I said looking down at Liz with regret. "From now on I'll try and enjoy my journey a bit instead of racing to get every badge and missing key things!" I said with a determined look. This may have been the second town but in many ways it was like a fresh wave of water wiping the slate clean.

_**I hope Billy wasn't too evil but I'm glad that he's now back to normal. The chapter's called a single tear in the ocean for two reasons .1. The depressing parts. .2. The badge is shaped like a teardrop. I'm not too sure whether to do a chapter on the route or just skip straight to Bill's house cause feel like both would be too long together and I really want to do one on the route but I can't decide what to do on the route (besides maybe the nugget bridge). Bill will definitely get his own chapter though. If I had thought about the character's names properly I wouldn't have called Billy, Billy because it's too similar to Bill. Oh well it's only going to be one chapter. Please review!**_


	15. Fateful Golden Bridge

Disclaimer- (strong wind and rain while I'm being pushed backwards) I don't own Pokémon! (Get blown away)

Fateful golden bridge!

**Elizabeth's POV**

I had woken up last night at around midnight and was surprised to see Paula and Billy sitting on chairs together asleep with their head resting on each other's head, by my bed. I couldn't help thinking that they looked quite cute together. I wanted to take a picture for black mail then I realised that I was still a Pichu and this was a Pokémon centre with cameras in them. I sighed in disappointment then went back to sleep as there was not much else to do. I woke to the sound of Billy talking to a nurse.

"Your Pichu should be fine to take with you now, I would advise not to battle with it for today though just in case." I heard no reply so I assumed he just nodded. I chose this moment to let him know I was fine by sitting up and giving him a good zap.

"Liz your okay!" he cried still looking obsessively happy "if you feel up to it we'll go to see Bill that is if you're feeling fine." He said somewhat glumly. I was already marching out the door and Billy raced after me looking thrilled. I hate hospitals. We saw Paula, Alice and Nicolas waiting for us outside but Paula seemed preoccupied with the ground and Alice was trying to clean Nicolas's cheek with a cloth. I wish I was awake to see Paula's and Billy's reaction when they woke up but I could always enjoy Nicolas being tormented. Alice then looked at me sweetly but it was more like a glare and I was soon put under the same torture of being dabbed at by a cloth. After a lot of laughing Billy and Paula finally put Nicolas and Alice back in their balls, I changed back into a human and we left the centre. We soon came to a breathtaking giant gold bridge.

"Here it is!" Paula cried in glee "The nugget bridge! Also known as the golden bridge of fate! Rumour has it if you confess your love here you'll be partner's forever! How romantic!" she swooned at this last comment.

"Who cares about that gushy stuff? Rumour has it if you proclaim your dream here it will defiantly come true!" Billy cried with determination.

"Please you guys don't actually believe that stuff do you? They just made it up to get tourists here! There's no such thing as destiny! I don't like the idea of every decision I make being set in stone before I make it! Or having a fate that I have to follow..." I stopped short of my rant and my mouth gaped open. Paula and Billy saw what I was looking at and their mouths were soon to follow.

"Is that..." Billy started not quite sounding like he was all there.

"...The white Pichu?" Paula managed to choke out. Standing before us was a very familiar (to me) White Pichu with golden ears and tail which almost blended into the golden bridge.

"Yes..." I managed to say not really believing my eyes. Before I got a chance to recover the Pichu started to run across the bridge. I managed to register what was happening and soon gave chase. "Hey you wait!" I screamed at the Pichu it didn't even register I was there and continued to run. I heard Billy screaming my name in the background but I didn't slow down. This was my one chance to get some answers. We soon reached the end of the bridge and White Pichu dived to the left through some grass. I quickly followed. I was now directly under the bridge with no Pichu in sight. "Where are you?" I screamed "I just want some answers!" there was no sign of an answer, I sighed and sat down in disappointment. Billy came running up breathing harshly and was looking around quickly.

"Where's the white Pichu?" He burst out and I glared at him in response and he looked down sadly. Paula then caught us up but seeing our disappoint gazes said nothing. I looked in the dark water and took off my hat let my ears feel the wind. I looked down again and punched my reflection in anger but after reforming it was still the same. A girl with ears she's not meant to have and a tail which is constantly in her jeans. Suddenly the water gleamed red and I stood back in fear. More and more red gleams appeared. I put my hat back on and backed off with Billy and Paula behind me. Suddenly an ice beam was shot near us and we started running. A small blue and yellow Pokémon jumped out the water blocking our paths and more had appeared behind us. The next thing I knew the world began to go black as they approached us with evil smirks.

**Billy's POV**

I woke up in a strange place at first I thought we were on some kind of beach as we were lying on wet sand. Then I noticed the sky become darker, murkier and was moving. I sat up in confusion I saw on the beach there was a lot of seaweed and the sky had water Pokémon in it. I realised we were in some kind of giant bubble under water just as the Pokémon who brought us here appeared. I scanned it with the Pokedex _'Chinchou the angler Pokémon,_ _Chinchou charges up its electric attacks by absorbing energy through its two antennae' _I thought Chinchou were normally found in Johto. The Chinchou no longer looked sinister and instead was staring at me with some tears in its eyes. Suddenly it burst out crying and I blinked in confusion.

"Um it's okay!" I said with worry in my voice "my friend she can talk to you and find out what's wrong!" I looked by my side and notice that Liz was missing and the Chinchou seemed to cry even louder. In fact the only one near me was Paula and she was still knocked out. "Have you seen my friend Chinchou?" the Chinchou just kept crying I fished around in my bag. "Here have some chocolate it tastes good." I said not knowing what to do if my plan failed. Chinchou hiccupped a bit then sniffed and nibbled some of the chocolate it then showed a delighted expression and ate the rest. Suddenly I heard a scream and saw Paula sitting up and pointing at Chinchou.

"Get your hands off Billy! Alice get it away!" She cried scrambling through her bag and released Alice who seeing me in 'danger' launched a powerful water gun.

"No stop!" I cried and took the attack while the Chinchou stared at me.

"Alice stop the attack! Billy! What are you doing?" Paula cried her eyes clouded with confusion.

"This Chinchou is one of the good guys! Liz has gone missing and this Chinchou may be our only lead!" I said in annoyance.

"Sorry I didn't realise Chinchou do you know where Liz is?" Paula asked kindly but Chinchou just turned away angrily.

"Please Chinchou we need to find her she's very important to us," Chinchou looked at me and then pointed to something very far away. In the lake barely visible was another bubble of air like ours but it had many small lights coming in and out of it. It was too far to swim without losing air even with using Water types and we were too deep to go back to the surface to get help. "Chinchou do you know how to use Dive then we can travel safely to the pocket of air." I asked but Chinchou shook its head sadly.

"How about if you swim to the surface? Then you can go and get help." Paula suggested. Chinchou glared at her before shaking its head again. "Why not? It's not like you can't breathe out there." Paula said sounding slightly annoyed. Chinchou glared at her again before jumping in the water. The Chinchou swam upward and then it hit something and a green box appeared around the bubble.

"It must be some kind of barrier they've really got us trapped here like prisoners." I said.

"I don't want to be stuck in prison!" Paula wailed while Chinchou returned and shocked her in annoyance.

"Hang on I've got an idea! Kyra let's do this thing!" my Abra appeared and she didn't look bothered by our underwater situation. "Kyra! I need you to teleport us from this bubble to the other bubble!" I began to see some hope this would be an easy task for Kyra. Unfortunately I forgot about her attitude.

"zzz..." I saw Paula and Chinchou out the corner of my eye face palm while I grew very angry.

"Come on Kyra it's a simple task! Why won't you listen to me?"

"zzz..." I grew desperate and tears started welling in my eyes.

"Please Kyra... Liz is in trouble and the only way we can help her is by going where she is. Please just this one time listen to me and help me help her."

"..."Kyra didn't snore this time and I stared at her desperately. Suddenly she glowed white and so did I, Paula and Chinchou. Next thing I knew we were submerged in water about 100 metres from the next bubble and Kyra had returned to my belt. We swam desperately to the bubble and by holding onto Chinchou we just barely made it. We burst through the bubble and immediately gasped for air. Then we saw something that took our breath away again. There were a lot of angry Chinchous and one large Chinchou sitting on a large shell. Tied to a seaweed prison was a knocked out Liz.

_**Good news and bad news (for readers anyway) first the good news because the weather in Britain is so horrible I might be updating more. The bad news is I've decided to lengthen update times because it was too tiring updating every day and I've been getting a lot of work to do recently. Also it may take me a while to update to this chapter because I need to think of appropriate ending. Anyways yay! I got a different reviewer and thank to both my reviewers so far it's really boosted my confidence because I thought everyone would hate this. Check around Tuesday-Wednesday for a realistic next update time. **_


	16. Mystery Of the Deep

Disclaimer- (while swimming underwater) gurgle glug gurgle (I don't own Pokémon)

Mystery of the deep

**Elizabeth's POV**

Why do people never shut up whenever you are semi- conscious? All I could hear in the darkness where unrecognisable voices whispering things probably about me as I slowly began to gather my bearings.

"Are you sure..." the first voice said

"She has no others on her yet she smells so strongly of us..."

"It could have been one of the other human infants..."

"Only the boy carried some of the same smell and it wasn't as strong..."

"Maybe she left the others on the shoreline..."

"Our stouts couldn't find anything... they hardly ever leave us unattended unless it is for a purpose... they want to ensure we stay prisoners..."

"Then what do we do... If it is..." I was losing the battle to stay awake and the voices were barely whispers to me now.

"...Dispose of her..."

"What do you think you're doing!" Billy yelled loud as ever breaking through the darkness. It looked like my 'hero' had come to save me.

**Paula's POV**

A bunch of angry looking Chinchou turned and glared at us from around Liz and I gulped in nervousness. The large Chinchou on the shell looked bored at the interruption and the Chinchou who had already seen us looked even angrier. We might have stood a chance with the element of surprise but every Chinchou in the bubble knew we were here but we had made enough noise with our entrance. Suddenly the large Chinchou pointed towards us with its right fin and a violent expression. All the other Chinchou began charging up attacks or running towards us. Billy didn't seem to waste a heartbeat. "Nicolas and Kyra! Let's do this thing!" He yelled releasing both of them. Nicolas pointed his horn to the on mass Chinchou not bothered by the large numbers, while Kyra didn't move and was asleep despite the danger.

"Alice teach them who is boss!" I cried and my Wartortle burst out its ball and immediately its kind demeanour was gone as she got into a fighting pose. Apparently when she was my grandmother's Pokémon she was a fierce battler but when she died Alice preferred the quiet life but still willing to go into battle. The Chinchou who was our friend (well more Billy's friend then mine) also jumped into our small line to fight. Never the less our odds of 200 Chinchou to our 4 Pokémon didn't look good. Suddenly a mysterious black fog like cloud descended on the Chinchou and we watched in confusion. One by one their eyes became glazed over and turned a bright red. The black cloud came over to our party and we couldn't stop chocking and coughing. I couldn't help thinking about all the worst times in my life like being teased by the other children, constantly seeking praise from my parent and half the time I was alone in a palace. I could hear a mysterious dark presence moving thought the cloud and it seemed to whisper things.

"_Paula..."_ how does it know my name? "_We know everything about you all your hopes... Your dreams... Your worst nightmares..." _the voice said the last part in a sinister way but for some reason I was not repulsed I was intrigued. _"Paula just think about it... how much easier this would be without Pokémon in this dreadful place..." _Without Pokémon? I was getting sleepy and it was like I was losing consciousness. _"Yes... you parents wouldn't have left you alone all the time to treat them or be working for a Pokémon based company... you would have lived a normal life... made friends who wouldn't regret you due to pettiness..."_ yes... a world without Pokémon sounds nice... Relaxing... I was getting more tired by the minute. _Your friends wouldn't have to go down here if it wasn't for the nasty Pokémon..." _my friends... who? I though hard and two faces came to mind with something familiar about them. _"Paula... relax... you can see them after the Pokémon have gone"_ the voice tried to convince me. I was like a dog with a bone and the faces of the two people came to my mind. What were there names? The voice was trying to speak to me but it was getting fainter as I concentrated on the faces more. A boy my age and a girl who was older. Billy and Liz. Suddenly all my memories came flooding back, how much fun I had on this journey, how they were my friends and how if it weren't for our Pokémon and our dreams we wouldn't have come together. I could hear the voice no more.

**Elizabeth's POV**

My sight was very bleary but I managed to summon the energy to open my eyes. I was very surprised by the sight. Humans and Pokémon were covered in a black fog and they eyes were glazed. I noticed Billy, Paula and all their Pokémon had a similar fog surrounding them. For some reason a fog had circled around me but couldn't get closer. It was probably because I was neither human nor Pokémon. Suddenly Paula took in a huge gasp of air and started coughing violently and the fog surrounding her lifted. I saw her looking around quickly then she spotted Billy and the fact he was surrounded by the weird fog.

"Billy!" she screamed nearly crying "Billy! Don't Listen to the voice it's trying to trick you!"(What voice?) Billy didn't seem anymore normal then he did before at this statement. "Kane wouldn't be possessed by this fog!" she yelled in desperation and even though I was far away I saw Billy's right hand twitch. Suddenly the fog lifted from his head.

"I won't lose to Kane or to you voice!" Billy screamed loudly while the colour came back to his eyes.

"Billy!" Paula screamed in joy and hugged him even though it was short lived. Nicolas came out his trance shortly after and began chasing after the fog with his horn. But Kyra, Alice and Chinchou were still in a trance. Billy ran up to me and freed me from my seaweed prison and I tried to shock them out of the fog while Paula and Billy screamed at them but nothing seemed to work. Suddenly we were interrupted by a red gleam at our backs. Now each Chinchou which was in a trance now had glowing red eyes like when we had first seen them. The eyes lacked any sort of emotion expect rage. Billy and Paula's Pokémon (and good Chinchou) didn't react like this because they were still in a battle with the voice. Now however all the other Chinchou were moving towards us in sync like they had lost their personality. Their gaze wasn't on our Pokémon but on us humans instead. Billy picked up Kyra and Chinchou slowly while Paula picked up Alice. Suddenly the Chinchou started sparking around their bodies. "RUN!" Paula screamed but we were in a bubble underwater so that means no places to go and less to hide in. Suddenly we were surrounded while the Chinchou advanced and only I and Nicolas could fight. "Goodbye you were my greatest friends!" Paula said while hugging us.

"We were your only friends"I pointed out with a smirk (probably not the best last words ever). Suddenly our last conversation was interrupted as a large blast of water headed towards us and we grabbed each other's arms.

**Billy's POV**

I woke up bleary eyed as we were underneath a very familiar golden bridge. I sat up quickly and saw that Liz and Paula were safe and the fog was leaving the other Pokémon.

"It must not affect them outside the lake!" I screamed loudly causing everyone to wake up and glare at me.

"We didn't die then?" Liz asked sounding bored.

"I guess not we must have just been propelled out of the water by the attack."Paula said. Suddenly a siren interrupted our train of thought.

"Is everyone okay over here? What are you doing? It's dangerous!" The Police officer said sounding angry.

"Well you see officer-"Paula began but I didn't trust this officer for some reason.

"We were just having a picnic." I said quickly "we didn't know it was dangerous honestly!" I said with my best smile.

"Your lucky you weren't killed I've been hearing bad reports of Pokémon acting up in this lake." The officer said strictly.

"How did you know we were here?" Liz asked suspiciously.

"There was a giant shot of water out the lake I thought someone had been attacked." The officer said but there was still something a bit off. Later we set free the Chinchou in a different stream but I couldn't put my mind at ease as we headed once again to Bill's house.

**No one's POV**

A small Chinchou was playing in pond a lot happier because its friends were no longer turning against it but sad because it had made new friends and lost them already. Meanwhile a lone police officer walked past the stream that the Chinchou was now living in. He turned and faced the stream then his eyes flickered a familiar shade of red. Then as quickly as had had came he had gone leaving the Chinchou to stare in fear.

_**I couldn't help thinking during this that I should have given the good Chinchou a name also I know how they escape was a bit rubbish but it was the best I could think of (why did I give them such an inescapable situation?). Unfortunately both Billy's parents are still alive (see chapter 3) but that would have been a boss story/ plot line. Maybe at some point I'll kidnap them and maybe torture and kill them. You probably don't remember his parents because they're not that important (they don't have character bios!). Maybe I'll kill them off but then I'll have to do a chapter where everyone's moping because they couldn't save them. As for Liz not taking off I'd rather not say anything for now... I'm pretty sure there's a movie called the mystery of the deep so if there is I also don't own that. Originally this chapter was going to be called Underwater Mystery but Mystery of the Deep sounded cooler (even if they are only in a lake). Originally the source of all the trouble would be a glowing rock (which was looked after the large Chinchou) but that sounded rubbish in my head mysterious fog is much better. Reviews are like virtual cookies and milk they taste nice and make you feel warm inside next update will be on Saturday (hopefully).**_


	17. Bill and Steve!

Disclaimer- I have a 100% chance of not owning Pokémon

Bill and Steve!

**Billy's POV**

We had made it to Bill's house who was a true Pokémon manic. This was the man who invented the storage system! I would give anything to talk to him. Of course it is private land to keep noisy reporters and enthusiastic trainers away. I sighed in disappointment I would give anything to talk to Bill but he wouldn't just let anyone into his house. There were rumours about him moving to Johto just to try and escape the press.

"Come on Billy! You have been staring at that house for twenty minutes now!" Liz complained loudly. I glared at her then sighed at the ground once again. "It's not like he's going to open the door just because he's sorry for us-"The door burst open just as she said that causing all of us to blink at the same time. A small brown fast blur came running out towards us.

"Steve! Wait!" cried an unfamiliar voice. Out of the house came one of my many heroes, Bill. He was small and pale with brown curly hair and was still in his pyjamas, but to me he looked like one of the most impressive people in the world. "Please help me catch that Eevee!" he begged us. Behind us was a small Eevee with a cheeky smile.

"Right Eevee you're going down!" I cried determined to impress my hero. I lunged for the Eevee but it jumped with ease out of the way. I looked at it and it used sand attack on my eyes causing me to cry out in pain. "Liz let's do this thing!" I cried. Then I released Liz was beside me and was still human while looking at me with a raised eyebrow. Bill looked like he was going to be sick. I cried in frustration. "Fine then! Nicolas let's do this thing!" My trusted Nidoran came out its ball and seeing the Eevee he pawned at the ground. The Eevee grinned and started running at full speed towards Nicolas. "Use horn attack when it gets close Nicolas!" Just as Nicolas was about to jab Eevee with its horn it leapt above him while laughing causing us both to get frustrated. "Use poison sting now!" Nicolas unleashed his best Poison sting but Eevee ran in front of the attack while laughing as it was a game. Suddenly the battle ended when Liz picked up the Eevee surprising all us. The Eevee started struggling and yelling but Liz coolly handed Eevee back to Bill.

"Thanks for catching Steve for me he sure can be a handful!" Bill said with a grin.

"Is Steve that Eevee?" Paula asked

"Yep I need to thank you guys somehow. I know! How about you have lunch at mine. I can even show you some of the rare Pokémon that I've collected." Before Liz or Paula could even answer I burst out

"You serious!" I leapt into the air with joy and practically ran into his house. I ignored the look on Bill's face that suggested he regretted his decision.

**Elizabeth's POV**

After Billy had burst into the house leaving us little choice to follow Bill went upstairs and got changed into suitable while Billy scoured over the multiple rare Pokémon on his PC. Occasionally he would gasp and yell for me and Paula to come and have a look but only Paula went and after the millionth 'amazing' Pokémon she even got fed up. Eventually Bill came back down the stairs with a very grumpy Steve at his heels. Steve's face changed when he saw us into a cheeky grin and he trotted over to us.

"Can you guys show him some of your Pokémon I think he gets lonely by himself. Beside I'm interested in seeing the types you have as well" Bill asked. Billy practically leapt at the opportunity and sent out Nicolas and Kyra immediately and Paula sent out Alice shortly afterwards. "Interesting your Pokémon seems to be in good shape. It's quite rare to have an Abra this early into your journey" Bill said while stroking his chin.

"Kyra doesn't really listen to me" Billy admitted embarrassed.

"Don't worry about that Pokémon often test trainers they are unsure of. Young lady do you only have this Pokémon?"

"Yes Alice is my first, best and only Pokémon," Paula said looking fondly at Alice.

"I suggest you catch maybe a few more Pokémon you might get in a situation where one will not be enough. Besides you might be putting pressure on her."

"I trust in Alice's ability." Paula answered firmly.

"I suggest you heed my advice just in case. That goes for you too young man by now you should have at least 3 Pokémon so you have variation for battles." Billy grew embarrassed at this advice and I could tell he desperately wanted to tell Bill he did in fact have 3 Pokémon.

"Hey why do you reek of Pichu?" I looked down surprised at the new voice and saw Steve sitting at my heels. I looked at Bill, Billy and Paula all staring at something on a computer knelt down, and whispered

"I am really part Pichu," I said in a quiet voice.

"Really? Cool!" Steve said in excitement "what are the ugly human's names?"

"You shouldn't really call people ugly you know." I scolded Steve "The Boy is named Billy and the girl Paula."

"It's no fun if you're always strict you know" Steve said while pouting.

"That's not being strict its common politeness,"

"Whatever same difference. What about you guys?" Steve said while turning to Alice and Nicolas who introduce themselves (I introduced Kyra because she still wasn't in the mood for a chat). "You three are boring!" Steve complained after our introduction "I thought you'd be more fun. Who wants to play with a duelling Nidoran, a sleeping Abra and a fussy Wartortle?" Steve announced loudly (isn't he charming) "I'm seeing if your Humans are more interesting!" he trotted over to Billy and pawned at his leg "hey Paula play with me!"he yelled and I sighed.

"That's Billy you know..."

**Billy's POV**

I turned feeling something scratching at my trouser leg. I looked down at saw Steve staring up at me.

"Well look at that! Steve has taken a shining to you!" Bill announced with a smile on his face "here take his ball and play with him in the garden." he then handed me a tennis ball and whispered in my ear "sorry he does this for all my guests. He'll probably get bored within 10 minutes and then come back inside. He won't give up until he has had a game." I sighed in disappointment I hated being away from my idol especially when he was showing us some of the rare Pokémon he had collected. I headed toward the garden and saw Steve grinning up at me I could swear he knew he was ruining my fun. When we got outside I threw the ball but Steve glared at me and pouted. "What? I threw it that's what you want isn't it?" I complained Steve merely shook his head and looked disappointed. I picked up the ball and stared at it. "Your right!" I announced loudly causing Steve to look up at me in bewilderment. "Just chasing after the ball again and again would be boring right? How about we have a competition? I throw the ball as far as I can into the air then we have to race to catch it!" Steve looked eager at this idea then scowled.

"Vee eve e!"

"Erm... I don't speak Pokémon..." I wish Liz was here. Steve then started jumping in the air and standing on his back legs. I noticed he couldn't jump higher then my waist. "Oh I have an unfair advantage due to height right?" Steve looked smug and nodded. I got down to my knees "is that better?" Steve looked smug and nodded. "Okay...3...2...1...GO!" I threw the ball high into the air and surprisingly we had loads of fun trying to get it. More than once when we were scrambling to get the ball we would hit each other causing us to fall into a muddy heap. Or when we were desperately trying to catch it the ball would hit our heads causing us to laugh until we'd drop. Suddenly before we realised it the whole day had passed.

"Wow I can't believe he didn't actually get bored with you" Bill said in surprise when we came in covered in mud.

"I can't believe you missed most of the day with you beloved idol while playing" Liz said smugly causing me to cringe.

"I'm really grateful for you keeping Steve entertained with me being so busy it's hard to find time to play with him." Bill said in a thoughtful way. I was sad to see Steve go but he was Bill's Pokémon. "Come on Steve we don't want to keep Billy from his journey do we?" Steve looked at Bill then at me and came and sat down at my heels.

"Steve what are you doing?" I whispered. Bill laughed loudly and I looked up at him confused.

"It appears Steve likes and young person who he can play with then an old person who plays with computers. Why don't you take Steve with you?"

"You really mean it?" I said stunned then I remembered my vow. "I can't take him he's yours and its cheating against my vow" I said with a dark gaze. Bill surprisingly laughed again.

"Don't worry about it Steve was never really mine in the first place just one of the pups my Eevee's produced I give them out to friends and kind trainers all the time. If you still feel bad why don't you battle Steve with one of your Pokémon? Then it will be like you've caught him in the wild."

"You really mean it?" I shouted excitedly "Let's go Steve!" Steve ran after me and when we went outside he took his position opposite me with a determined glare. I noticed Bill, Liz and Paula watching out the corner of my eye. "Nicolas let's do this thing!" Nicolas came out of the sidelines then faced Steve with an equally determined glare. Without any warning Steve starting charging towards us using his superior speed to catch us by surprise. Steve hit Nicolas on the side with a quick attack causing Nicolas to slide backward. "Quick while he's close use Poison sting!" I cried. Nicolas managed to recover from his weakness to fire a poison sting but Steve managed to leap upwards. Steve then came shooting towards us with a high speed Tackle. "Brace yourself with Horn attack!" Nicolas planted his feet on the ground and his horn began shining. Steve surprisingly landed in front of Nicolas gave him a grin and before I could order a getaway whacked Nicolas with a powerful tail whip. This caused Nicolas to go flying across the field. Steve didn't waste a moment and started charging toward Nicolas in a Tackle. "Get up now Nicolas!" I screamed in desperation. Nicolas' eyes snapped open "Now use Double kick!" Nicolas managed to kick Steve so that he was the one flying. It was super effective! I threw a poke ball eagerly. It shook once, the again and... The ball burst open! Steve was glaring at us once again but looking much weaker. "Nicolas use fury attack!" Nicolas charged towards Steve and Steve charged towards Nicolas in a quick attack. They clashed in the middle in the field and the outcome was unclear. I watched nervously suddenly Steve glowed purple he was poisoned! This was the perfect time to throw another ball. It hit Steve on the head and the ball shook once, and then again and... Click! "I caught an Eevee!"

_**Sorry for taking 4 days longer than I promised and thanks for pointing out the errors I tend to miss a few because there is only one of me and horary for new reviewers even if they are talking about cake Billy caught an Eevee! The only reason no one caught the Chinchou is that I already have a general plan for Billy's team and Paula already has a water type. I was seriously considering letting Paula catch it though but I really don't like the idea of my characters having 2 of the same type of Pokémon even for dual types. I'm glad you found the fog evil and not just random (like oh they're getting attacked and now there's a random bit of fog) the fog will appear again! Next update will probably be on Saturday, Sunday or Tuesday because I've got a lot of work to do please review **_


	18. Rival Idol!

Disclaimer- I don't own Pokémon (and if you hate the story or the concept of poke-morphs why did you read this far)

Rival idol!

**Paula's POV**

After Billy had caught Steve we had headed back towards Cerulean city with Billy leading the way in a determined march. He really wanted to win that badge and the loss last time was devastating in more ways than one.

"OH COME ON!" I heard Billy's shout come from down the street where the gym was. I hurried towards him alone seeing as Liz had hitched a ride in his hood I was the only one trailing behind. I stopped as I saw the giant sign on the door.

CERULEAN GYM IS CLOSED DUE TO THE POKEMON CONTEST.

"WHY?" Billy screamed as he banged on the door "DOES! IT! HAVE! TO! BE! CLOSED!"

"Pic chu Pichu" Liz said no doubt making some kind of sarcastic remark. Suddenly the door opened hitting Billy's head in the process causing him to fall backwards.

"Sorry Billy I didn't see you there." We all turned at the voice and saw the gym leader Misty standing in the doorway smiling at us.

"Misty!" Billy cried happily "Please let me have a battle I want to show you how much I have improved!" he begged.

"Sorry no can do." Misty replied quickly causing Billy to sulk "didn't you read the sign? There's a contest today and I'm one of the judges. Why don't you all compete?" she suggested.

"There's no way I'm competing in some girly contest" Billy replied puffing up his chest. Meanwhile I was quite curious and peered into the gym. Then I let out an ear splitting scream and burst past Misty into the gym. Inside was my idol and all time fashion goddess Lucy Pennington.

**Billy's POV **

The pain in my head suddenly worsened as Paula let out a scream and before I could turn to see what was wrong, she had ran past me and was heading towards another girl who looked slightly older than us. She had long black hair which was perfectly straight and piercing blue icy eyes. She was wearing small white high heels, with black tights with a short white skirt and a blue tank top with frills and ribbons on it. She didn't look like she had ever spent one day camping and was surrounded by several people who were older then her in suits.

"Oh dear she's seen her..." I heard Misty mutter as Paula was practically running towards this girl.

"Lucy Pennington!" Paula screamed but the girl looked unfazed by this behaviour. "I am a huge fan! You're the one who inspired me to become a Pokémon fashion model! The way you rose to fame when you were just 5 years old is really inspiring!" Paula said in excitement while I blinked in confusion.

"Who... are you?" Lucy stated her voice sounded as icy as her eyes.

"I'm Paula Haring and-"Paula said

"Stop" Lucy said and the fierceness in her voice made us all flinch. Her eyes glazed over us and then came to rest on Misty. "You." Misty flinched at Lucy's harsh voice. "I thought I told you I didn't want to be disturbed before the contest." Lucy said in an almost robotic voice.

"Please it wasn't her fault," Paula said "I was just really excited to see you. Are you entering the contest? If so it's bound to be brilliant!" Paula's eyes were shining in admiration at this point. If this Lucy was so great why haven't I heard of her before today?

"Of course" Lucy stated her voice not betraying any feeling. "Contests are good because they can help you think of new ideas for designs and it can help you clear your mind." Lucy said bluntly.

"Really?" Paula said happily "maybe I should enter too then..." she said in wonder.

"No." Lucy snapped causing us to flinch once more.

"W-why?" Paula stuttered her happy mood shattered instantly.

"Contests or fashion designs are not things to be taken lightly. The contest is tomorrow. Do you really think you stand a chance of even qualifying? Also the gym is in water so you need to train a preferably water Pokémon and if you even have one you have to train it in less than one day. It's impossible for someone with your relaxed attitude." Lucy then turned away from a shocked Paula and walked away with her heels making a small clicking sound until they could be heard no more. I and Misty led Paula out of the gym only when we got outside Paula burst into tears. We then took her into a nearby alleyway to stop people staring at her.

"It's all true!" she cried "I'll never become a good fashion designer! I came on this journey to get inspiration but I've done nothing to even attempt to achieve my dream!" I stood in the alleyway awkwardly not knowing what to do, while Misty patted Paula on the back and whispered words of comfort which only seemed to worsen Paula's sobs. Liz stood on my shoulder just looking at Paula. Then she clenched her fists and gave us all a good shock making everyone stop and stare at her.

"PI PI CHU PIPI PICHU!" she yelled angrily at us causing us all to stare in confusion at her. She then grabbed my pewter city gym badge from inside my jacket and pointed at it then at me.

"Liz is right!" I cried understanding what she was trying to say. "If I gave up on my dream just because someone told me to I wouldn't be dedicated to that dream! I'm going to compete in the contest!" I announced loudly.

"B-but I thought you said they were too girly" Paula sniffed looking up at me with hopeful eyes

"Yes I admit it's not where I would usually go but I'm going to show Lucy even amateurs can win! Everyone is a beginner at some point! Are you with me?" I asked holding out my hand towards Paula.

"But Lucy's my idol if she thinks I can't do it then what chance do I have?" Paula said sadly looking at my hand then down at the ground again.

"Forget her! She's only human and can't predict the future!" I cried.

"R-really?" Paula said sniffing.

"Yes we'll train together!" I said honestly.

"But you don't have a water Pokémon" Paula said still looking quite sad but taking my hand and pulling herself up.

"You do know that you'll only have a limited space to do an appeal on?" Misty said looking at me.

"Who needs water Pokémon? Especially when I've got Liz!" I cried ignoring Liz's look of dismay.

**Elizabeth's POV**

He was joking right? Please tell me he was joking. I was all for cheering up Paula but going on a stage in front of loads of people while doing flashy moves might be going just a bit too far. Maybe I just misheard.

"R-really you'd do that for me?" Paula said looking a lot better.

"Of course! But don't expect me and Liz to go easy on you!" apparently not.

"I'm looking forward to seeing you both at the contest" Misty said with a smile. Well this should be fun.

_**How did you know my evil plan for Paula? Well to be honest she was going to wind up doing contests anyways there are not many opportunities to do chapters about fashion catwalks and they probably wouldn't be very interesting anyways. I was debating whether Lucy would be nice or evil then I thought about her appearance and decided she would be evil. Sorry that Elizabeth sort of lost her spark I haven't really been paying that much attention because these chapters have most of the important events for the rest of the story. I'll try and make sure my characters don't lose their personalities again. And M I gave my characters individual POV so that the reader would know them better and for entertainment purpose (what one character finds stupid the other character is really excited about(it would be boring if it was all negative)) and it's my first story so it's bound to need a bit of work I can only assume it will get better (and you don't even know me so how can you hate me) but thanks for wasting your valuable time reading and reviewing my story. Ill update sometime next week because it's the holidays but I'm not sure when but it won't be Tuesday fo once so it will probably be Wednesday so please review **_


	19. Sparkle and Shine!

Disclaimer- I don't own Pokémon but I own all the characters in this story.

Sparkle and shine!

**Paula's POV**

Billy and I stood waiting in the dressing room in nervous anticipation, with Billy pacing and occasionally staring at the screen from which we could see the other competitors appeals. It was like they were deliberately trying to make us feel nervous. We had spent the previous day training (despite Liz's protests) however Lucy was nowhere to be seen and part of me was relived because I didn't need another knock to my confidence.

"Now we welcome Lucy Pennington onto the field!" the announcer cried. I guess I spoke to soon. Lucy came out looking as cold as ever and it was like she was glaring at us through the screen and the judges***** Misty, Mr Contesta and Nurse Joy sat up straight knowing she was going to stun them.

"Dewgong show them your style!" A very beautiful Dewgong came out in a flurry of stars. However it looked almost as cold as its trainer and didn't show any sign of emotion. "Now Dewgong use Icy wind!" Dewgong let loose a snow storm which froze the few floating platforms and the pool in the centre leaving the entire filed frozen. "Now use Rain dance then freeze the cloud with ice beam!" Dewgong used a rain dance but before it started raining in quick speed the Dewgong froze it with the ice beam creating soft falling snow which a lot of the younger audience member tried to catch on their tongues. "Now finish it off with signal beam!" Dewgong unleashed a beautiful and multicoloured signal beam which reflected off the frozen pool and with the added snow it looked just like the Northern lights which caused a large gasp to erupt off the audience. Then the signal beam destroyed the snow cloud and caused the frozen pool to crack causing the audience to erupt into cheers.

"A very stunning presentation but a bit chilly for me" Misty said hugging her bare arms.

"Nonsense it's rare to include the audience in contests. It was one of a kind!" Mr Contesta cried happily.

"That Dewgong truly showed off its power and beauty in its moves very well done!" Nurse Joy cried happily. Lucy curtsied, withdrew Dewgong and left without a word but that didn't quieten down the crowd's cheer. This made me more nervous and I saw that Billy grew pale. Next up was a boy with his Magby it attempted to do a fire spin on the platform but slipped and landed in the water causing a lot of commotion and the boy to burst into tears until he saw that it was safe. Next up was Billy and seeing the incident that had just occurred I began to worry.

"Are you sure you'll be okay? Liz could drown in there!"I cried remembering what nearly happened last time.

"Don't worry about us we've practiced balance and our moves I'm sure we'll be fine!" After that Billy sped off leaving me to stare at the screen in worry.

**Elizabeth's POV**

This was one of the worst moments of my life staring at a crowd of people while standing on a wet floating raft which didn't feel very secure. The only thing that had made it worse is that Billy had tied a small red ribbon to my tail and with my short little Pichu arm's I couldn't reach it. I am so not helping him against Misty for this.

"Liz let's do this thing!" Billy cried in determination. I don't know why he's so worked up. He didn't even want to do this yesterday. No matter it's time to get this show on the road (also known as let the torture begin).

**Billy's POV**

Liz looked at me full of dread but all I was feeling was excitement. It turns out doing the contest was great training for not falling in the water so I let all my Pokémon join in. So even if we lose it wasn't for nothing but now that we're here we'll do the contest. I'll definitely be ready for the gym tomorrow. "Liz use Charm!" Liz kissed her paws and blew the kiss into the audience making multiple hearts fly out everywhere covering the area above the stage. "Use Thunder Wave!" The Thunder Wave covered the hearts like a net to prevent them floating all over the place but so they stayed floating in their positions. It also connected each heart with a small but visible electrical current. "Thundershock!" Liz destroyed most of the hearts leaving a handful which formed a giant heart shape linked by the electricity causing the audience to swoon as planned. "Now sweet kiss!" Liz kissed just one paw and blew a heart towards the giant heart causing a break in the chain and caused all of the hearts to explode and tiny hearts to fly out slowly towards the audience causing them to erupt in cheering. I gave a grin to Liz who was sitting down in relief. We had actually discovered the final combination when we were about to stop training and we had no idea if it would work again but the result was fantastic.

"Truly stunning." Misty said putting her hand out to catch one of the small hearts which broke apart when it came into contact with her skin.

"I think you could have involved Pichu in the appeal a bit more but the moves were simple yet beautiful." Mr. Contesta said.

"Yes from the audiences perceptive it was brilliant but from ours we couldn't see the appeal properly." Nurse Joy said looking quite glum. I completely forgot you were meant to somehow impress judges as well and I hit myself realising that my appeal looked brilliant from the front and the back. However it didn't have the same effect at the side because they couldn't see the giant heart shape properly. I walked out somewhat disappointed but mostly happy. After all next was Paula's turn and I couldn't wait to watch it.

**Paula's POV**

Billy's appeal had looked great to me which did nothing to ease my nerves as I walked slowly up to the stage. The crowd looked pretty excited because they had just seen two (not counting the kid with the Magby) great appeals.

"Alice let's get going!" I cried and release Alice into the pool so that the audience couldn't see her which caused some murmurs throughout the crowd. "Now use Water pulse!" to the audience's surprise several spheres of water came shooting out of the water and flew high into the air. "Alice come out of the water!" Alice came out of the water at an impressive speed with water flying either side of her she looked quite impressive. She then landed on a nearby float. "Use ice beam!" She froze one of the Water Pulses making an ice sphere which plummeted back toward the pool. "Use Aqua tail on it before it hits the water!" Alice dived into the water and using her impressive speed got to the ice ball and managed to hit it hard with an aqua tail sending it high into the air once again. "Now dive deep down and smash that ice ball at high speed with skull bash!" Alice dived into the pool and the pool glowed with a mysterious white light. Alice then came bursting out with a high speed skull bash which had caused the white glow. If this missed now our last chance of impressing the audience was gone. Alice sped towards the ice ball and... She hit it! So hard that the ball turned into pretty white dust and the audience erupted in cheering. I was surprised at this because we hadn't used many flashy moves.

"It's not very often you see a Pokémon's special skills being unleashed in an appeal!" Mr. Contesta said with a big grin.

"She really made good use of the entire pool!" Misty said.

"From the mystery of which Pokémon it was at the start, to the daring final I was interested in this appeal!" Nurse Joy said also grinning. I gave a great big smile and curtsied then ran to the preparation room.

"You were great!" Billy yelled as soon as I walked in.

"Not as good as you!" I replied bashfully with heat creeping up on my face.

"Half the people in the audience couldn't see my appeal. Alice moved throughout the pool and really showed off her speed so that all of the audience could at least see parts of your appeal!" I flushed at this and tried to gather my thoughts so I could complement Billy on his and Liz's performance.

"After much deliberation we will now announce who will go through to the finals!" the announcer cried interrupting my thoughts. "Here they are!" About 8 different names and faces appeared on the screen. Lucy was in first place and there I was in forth! I scanned the list twice Billy's name was not on it.

"Billy I'm sorry..." I said sadly looking at him in disappointment.

"Don't worry about it!" Billy said happily causing me to blink in surprise. "I want to save my battle skills for the gym leader! You win that contest for both of us!" he said with a grin.

"Right!" I said happily and prepared myself to battle for the ribbon.

**Billy's POV**

I sat in the stadium waiting for Paula's battle while two of the other finalists battled it out. If Paula kept winning she would have to battle Lucy for the ribbon in the finals. Right now I couldn't see how any of these people had got through to the finals as both Paula and Lucy beat their opponent with ease. Liz had lost interest long ago and was asleep and I couldn't help wondering if she had remembered to take off the ribbon as soon as she was human. I heard cheering and one of the finalists had won but barely. Lucy thrashed him without pity in the next round and was through to the finals. Paula beat her opponent with similar ease and now they were facing each other off in what was likely to be an epic battle.

**Paula's POV**

Stay calm Paula I thought as Lucy's cold eyes bore into mine.

"Dewgong show them your style!" Dewgong appeared once again looking as intimidating as ever.

"Alice let's get going!" My Wartortle came out of her ball and her face hardened. The buzzer signifying the start of the match rang and we sprung into action. "Alice go underwater!" I yelled.

"Dewgong use ice beam to trap it there." Lucy said calmly and I panicked as the surface froze over leaving Alice to bang for release on the ice underneath.

"Alice use aqua tail to break free!" Alice's tail turned blue and she slammed it on the ice but the ice didn't even crack. I gritted my teeth "use Skull Bash!" Alice dived further down and began glowing white which showed she was charging up the attack. She than started shooting towards the surface and successfully broke out of the ice. Alice was then shocked to see Dewgong above her about to attack.

"Dewgong now use take down! " Lucy said and Dewgong slammed into Alice causing her to slide across the ice in pain. Suddenly Dewgong began to swagger uncontrollably. "Dewgong? What are you doing?" Lucy asked in confusion.

"According to our super slow motion camera Wartortle managed to fire a water pulse just before Dewgong attacked this has caused Dewgong to be confused! That sure threw a spanner in the works!" the announcer cried. I smiled happily at Alice who was getting up slowly.

"Alice use skull bash and use the ice to gain momentum!" I yelled.

"Now Paula is using the foe's field against her! What will she do?" the announcer yelled

"Quickly Dewgong use aqua jet!" the two Pokémon sped toward each other.

"TIME IS UP!" the announcer yelled just before the impact occurred. Alice managed to stop in time but Dewgong veered out of control due to its confusion and crashed into the ice it had created. I looked to the screen in nervousness. Whatever the result was I promised myself I was going to hold my head high.

**Billy's POV**

I looked at the screen and the entire audience seemed to have their breath held. It was just a shame that Dewgong's crash happened after the time limit if it happened during the contest Paula would be sure to win.

"And the winner is..." a picture flashed on the screen and it took me a minute to register the face "Lucy Pennington!" a wave of disappointment went through me but Paula looked happy with the situation. Lucy looked like she was really angry and return Dewgong and marched up to the stand and snatched the ribbon away and left without a word. Something told me that we would be seeing her again.

"That however is not the end of our entertainment!" Misty cried and the crowd murmured in confusion. Wasn't today just meant to be a contest? "Would you like to see more?" the crowd roared in approval even though no one knew what was going on. "Then I will do a real life gym battle with a member of this very audience!" Misty cried and the crowd cheered once again but I was confused. Didn't she say I was going to be her next battle? Suddenly a bright spotlight shone down onto my set and the audience all turned and stared at me. "Billy Derringer will you accept this challenge?" Misty said with a smile on her face. I was stunned by all of the faces staring at me. Then I grinned.

"Of course I will!"

*-_**Whenever I'm doing a contest the gym leader of the city, Mr. Contesta and Nurse Joy will be judges Mr. Sukizo (the guy who always says remarkable) is annoying (if you don't know who these characters are look them up)**_

_**I realised in the middle of this that Paula didn't have a trainer quote (something you shout when sending out your Pokémon) Billy's and Kane's is 'let's do this thing' Lucy Pennington's is 'show them your style 'so Paula's is now 'Let's get going!' Paula was never going to win because she was battling someone with experience and had been training for a day. I know I'm in control of the story but I feel like Billy's appeal was a lot more impressive then Paula's but I didn't want him to compete in the finals anyway. Sorry if there are a lot of mistakes I haven't been sleeping well recently. Anyways next chapter is going to be the gym battle but I'm not sure when the next update will be hopefully Tuesday if I don't get much work to do. Always enjoy and review **_


	20. Make a Splash!

Disclaimer- I don't own Pokémon

Make a splash!

**Elizabeth's POV**

I woke up to the sound of cheering and saw Billy waving happily to the crowd with a huge grin.

"What's going on?" I said sleepily rubbing my eyes.

"Oh good your awake!" Billy said happily then he knelt down and whispered in my ear "I need you to change so that we can fight Misty." My eyes widen slightly at his statement.

"What are you crazy?" I nearly yelled causing Billy to blink in surprise "any of this ring a bell? Giant crowd. I'm a human. Secret that must be kept secret?" I asked with raised eyebrows.

"Oh" Billy said glumly with his eyes widening causing me to grin.

"Besides this is payback for putting that ribbon on me." Billy frowned at this but before he could resort with a comeback Misty yelled out to the crowd.

"Nurse Joy told me that Billy has 4 Pokémon! Therefore we shall put it to an audience vote about how many of our Pokémon shall battle each other! Underneath everyone's chair is a voting box please vote for which battle you would like to see now!" I looked underneath my chair my Billy looked around nervously. If everyone voted for a 4 on 4 he was in trouble. I sighed and pressed the 3 on 3 button. Who knows it might just save his neck. Misty yelled once more "the results are in and the battle will be..."

**Billy's POV**

Please say 3 on 3, please say 3 on 3. Or better yet 2 on 2 that way I won't have to use Kyra unless she decided to listen to me for once. "3 on 3!" Misty cried and the crowd erupted into cheers. I was only slightly disappointed. I could always try to win with just 2 Pokémon.

"Good luck." Liz said with a hint of sarcasm. Well if she didn't think I couldn't win without her then I'd show her. I headed down to the stage and I passed Paula who gave me a grin and a high five on her way up the stairs. I ran to the other side of the stage and saw Misty grinning at me. She looked just as excited about this battle as I did.

"This will be a 3 on 3 match. The challenger is allowed to make substitutions while the gym leader is not. Whoever knocks out all 3 of the opponent's Pokémon will be declared the winner!" the referee cried. "Begin!"

"Horsea make a splash!" Misty cried out came a small blue Pokémon. It didn't look very fierce I had heard most gyms start with the weakest Pokémon so I would do the same.

"Steve let's do this thing!"I cried and out came my Eevee and seeing he had an audience looked as smug as possible.

"Horsea use smokescreen under the water!" Horsea dived and immediately I could no longer see its whereabouts in the once clean pool.

"Steve listen out for it in case it attacks!" Steve became focused and was scanning the black water with his ears twitching for noise.

"Horsea use bubble!" fast moving bubbles burst out of the water headed straight towards Steve.

"Quickly Steve jump to another platform!" I cried and Steve leapt easily to another platform. Suddenly more bubbles came out and Steve barely managed to jump to another platform before more bubbles came out. "How can that Horsea see where we are and where we're going?" I gritted my teeth in frustration. Suddenly Steve did a leap to a faraway platform and bubbles burst out of the water. Surprisingly they did not head toward Steve but a completely different platform. A light bulb clicked in my mind "I see Horsea can't see us!" I cried causing Misty to flinch slightly meaning I was correct. "Steve Horsea will always aim for the platform nearest to you! It can't see your movements!" I figured out when dodging on platforms Pokémon always jump to the nearest platform. So Horsea would know which platform was nearest because it was used to the field.

"Not many challengers figure that out I'm impressed" Misty said looking amazed "but you haven't won yet! We'll just take this fight above water!" Horsea burst out of the water and it looked quite angry. "Horsea use agility!" Horsea speed toward Steve I almost couldn't trace it with my eye movements.

"Steve swim towards it and use tackle!" Steve started swimming but he wasn't nearly as fast as the Horsea.

"You're not as good as I fought if you're taking the battle into my element!" Misty cried. "Horsea get behind it and use water gun!" Horsea disappeared from where Steve was swimming to and reappeared behind him. He then fired a powerful water gun which shot Steve to the end of the pool. He hit the end and cried out in pain.

"Steve get onto the platform!" Steve managed to climb onto the platform weakly.

"Horsea use water gun from underneath it!" I noticed Horsea had disappeared back into the black water.

"Steve go onto a different platform!" I yelled. Steve managed to gather his energy to leap a couple of platforms away.

"You've fallen straight into my trap!" Misty cried happily "now Horsea unleash your water gun!" suddenly a giant pillar of water shot Steve into the air when he had come down he had swirls in his eyes. I hadn't even damaged Horsea. I needed a Pokémon that was fast and could sense Horsea coming. I needed Kyra.

**Paula's POV**

I saw Billy's face darken slightly. This was a bad situation for him and he knew it. I couldn't believe that Misty's Pokémon had received no damage at all during the battle. Me and Liz were the only ones not cheering out of the whole crowd. "You see Horsea couldn't see where you where in that black water so it didn't move. You came straight over where Horsea was as I predicted!"Misty cried and I gasped in amazement gym leaders are in a different league.

"I underestimated your Horsea but that doesn't mean I'm giving up!" Billy cried "Kyra let's do this thing!" out came Kyra asleep as usual. Why would he use Kyra? She never listens and the only attack she can use is Teleport. This would be an interesting match and I couldn't wait to see what Billy had planned.

**Billy's POV**

I had no idea how I would attack Horsea but if I was right Kyra should be able to dodge all of its attacks so that might give me some time to think. If Kyra obeyed me that is.

"Horsea use water gun!" Misty cried

"Kyra dodge with teleport!" Kyra didn't move as the water sped towards her. "Move already!" I yelled in frustration. Just before the water reached her Kyra teleported to a faraway platform. I breathed a sigh of relief. Horse frowned then began glowing. "What's happening?" I said

"Horsea's beginning to evolve!" Misty cried happily. Horsea's body grew bigger and its fins on its back grew sharper. Suddenly the light stopped and in Horsea's place was a Seadra.

"This can't be good." I said noticing Seadra and Misty's looks they were both looking like they had won the lottery.

"Seadra use Twister!" Misty cried and Seadra produced a giant pillar of water and air which surrounded Kyra.

"Kyra use Teleport get out of there!" I yelled

"The only way you can escape twister is by causing Seadra to stop!" Misty yelled.

"Kyra!" I yelled in desperation. A giant psychic wave came out of the twister and knocked Seadra out of the water causing all of us to blink in confusion. When the wave cleared we saw a Kadabra standing triumphantly where my Abra had once been. "Kyra evolved?" I question and gave her a quick scan with the Pokedex and saw that she had now learnt Confusion and Psyshock. The other bonus was that Twister had cleaned the pool so there could be no more sneak attacks. "Great!" I cried "Kyra use confusion to get Seadra out of the water!"

"Seadra dodge with agility!" Seadra started darting around the pool and I couldn't follow it with my eye. Suddenly Kyra teleported behind it and used Psyshock. "Your still not listening to me?" I yelled at Kyra who then sent a Psyshock at me which I barely missed and it caused the platform to shake violently. "Don't attack me!" I yelled once again struggling to regain my balance.

"Seadra!" Misty cried sending my thoughts back to the battle "Use hydro pump!" a giant shot of water came flying towards Kyra "use teleport to get away!" I yelled Kyra planted her feet stubbornly onto the platform and formed a psychic ball between her hands "What are doing? Get out of there!" she then fired a giant confusion at the water. The two attacks battled for supremacy then Kyra's broke through and sent Seadra flying and then caused it to faint. We were making a comeback I thought with a grin and I notice Misty grit her teeth.

"Starmie make some waves!" She cried and a purple star with a red gem in the middle came out.

"Kyra return!" I tried to send Kyra back in her ball its a bit pointless battling with a Pokémon that never listens to you. Kyra teleported and dodged the beam. "What do you think you're doing? Get in the ball!" I complained to Kyra.

"It seems your Pokémon wants to continue to fight seeing as it didn't sustain any damage. Besides a battle between two psychic types will be interesting" Misty said with a slight grin. "Starmie use Rapid spin!" She yelled.

"Kyra use confusion to stop it in its tracks!" Starmie came spinning towards Kyra who teleported onto a different platform (defying my orders!) Starmie changed direction in mid-air but Kyra teleported once again.

"Starmie into the water!" Misty cried realising she was getting nowhere. "Now use Psychic!" Suddenly the platforms we were standing on began moving and the waves in the small pool began to get bigger and bigger. Suddenly the wave were too big and Kyra fell off her platform and got pulled underwater .

"Kyra teleport!" I yelled trying not to fall in myself.

"Starmie use thunderbolt!" the whole pool light up with electricity suddenly Kyra appear on a nearby platform gasping for breath while her body crackled with electricity.

"Kyra you're okay!" I yelled happily and she glared at me which sent shivers down my spine. It was a look of betrayal that I had stood by and nearly let her drown. Just when I thought that we might be getting closer the gap between us suddenly seemed unreachable.

"Starmie use rapid spin underwater!"Misty cried and I felt the familiar movement of the platforms.

"Kyra lift yourself upwards with confusion!" Kyra glared at me once again and teleported away. "Kyra where are you?" I cried and the crowd began murmuring to themselves had Kyra ran away? I was distracted by the spinning water stopping and some purple lights beneath the water. "Kyra?" she had teleported to the depths where she knew there would be a pocket of air generated by the rapid spin she then attacked the Starmie. Suddenly Kyra teleported onto a nearby platform gasping for breath and Starmie came out of the water with its red gem flashing. Suddenly both collapsed and the crowd erupted into cheers. The next battle would decide the outcome of the match.

"Kingler show them the power of the ocean!"Misty cried releasing her final Pokémon which looked like a giant orange crab appeared with its right claw bigger than it's left. Despite this both claws looked strong and menacing.

"Nicolas let's finish this thing!" My Nidoran appeared and looked slightly nervous with the water around it. At least Steve could swim and Kyra could teleport to safety Nicolas would have to be saved if he fell in.

"Kingler start off with Metal claw!" Misty yelled and Kingler leapt at a surprising height while its big claw shone a gleam of metal.

"Nicolas jump onto the platform in front of you and use poison sting on its stomach!" Nicolas managed to leap across safely and fired many sharp poisonous needles at Kingler's stomach. Many bounced off its rough shell but one managed to attach to Kingler's leg and within a minute Kingler was glowing purple. The poison was successful!

"Kingler now we have to finish this quickly! Crab hammer on the water!" Kingler used a powerful crab hammer on the water causing a wave to fly toward Nicolas.

"Nicolas use Poison sting to break through that wave!" Nicolas fired at the wave and broke through. My eyes widen in surprise as behind the wave was Kingler!

"Now Crab Hammer!" Misty yelled and Kingler's claw began glowing white.

"Dodge it!" I cried as Kingler crashed down onto the platform Nicolas was on with Nicolas leaping away just in time. Kingler then spun with speed I didn't think was possible and managed to hit Nicolas on the back. Nicolas went flying across the pool and managed to land on a platform near the edge. Nicolas winced in pain and Kingler glowed purple and frowned. "Nicolas use horn attack!" I yelled.

"Swim down Kingler!" Nicolas leapt from platform to platform at amazing speed but Kingler managed to swim away before Nicolas managed to hit. "Now bubble beam!" A large number of bubbles burst out of the water and headed straight towards Nicolas.

"Use Fury Attack to pop those bubbles!"I yelled and Nicolas horn began glowing. Nicolas managed to pop all the bubbles with his horn but was looking quite tired after the activity.

"Crab hammer from below!"Misty yelled and Kingler burst out of the water sending Nicolas flying with Kingler beneath him.

"Quick use double kick!" Nicolas managed to straighten himself out and using the speed from the fall delivered 2 powerful kicks to Kingler.

"Kingler use vice grip!"

"Horn attack!" the 2 Pokémon headed towards each other Kingler with its claw outstretched and Nicolas pointing his sharp horn. Kingler glowed purpled and flinched giving us the opportunity to land our attack head on! Kingler fell backwards into the water and when it resurfaced it had black swirls in its eyes. We had won the Cascade badge!

**Elizabeth's POV**

I had to admit Billy could be quite resourceful when he wanted to be.

"Well done here is your prize the Cascade badge!" Misty yelled causing the crowd to erupt into cheers and Billy to turn around in shock like he had forgotten they were there. Even the refined Paula was whooping and clapping like a maniac. I saw Billy grinning at the crowd and he caught my eyes. I rolled them a little and his grin got even wider. I was going to get seriously gloated at later. Misty handed Billy the Cascade badge and there was more cheering and fireworks in the background. I wonder what would have happened if he had lost.

"Thanks Misty!" Billy yelled into the microphone she had. "I got the Cascade badge!" the crowds cheers became even more intense and I couldn't resist smiling and clapping a little myself.

_**I know I haven't focused on Liz much but I wanted to give Billy and Paula the spotlight over these few chapters. I wanted to do an all out team battle with Misty then I remembered that Liz was human and they were in a crowd so she couldn't turn back. I've been thinking recently about doing a Christmas special the trouble is if I do one I want it to be really detailed and it won't have any relevance to the actual storyline so it might be a waste of time. It was quite difficult doing a chapter about a battle in a pool because there so many different ways you can attack and defend so I hope I described everything okay. Anyway Billy won the Cascade badge and Kyra evolved hurray! That means I can finally move with the story because I've got a couple of ideas for the plot ahead. I had 3 different ideas for the name of this chapter all of which Misty yells when sending out her Pokémon. Kadabra can learn Psyshock via TM and Starmie can learn thunderbolt via TM. I have no idea if Eevee can actually swim but if seems logical because they can evolve into a water type but they are probably weighed down by their fur if they swim. I hope you look forward to the coming story and review the current one... **_


	21. Sunshine Day Care

Disclaimer- Pokémon is not owned by me

Sunshine Day care

**?'s POV**

A large flat screen television was switched on in the dark lounge of an unusually empty Pokémon centre. Normally the longue was packed full of trainers switching channels between battles and contests but with nobody but me there it had the chance to go onto the adverts.

"Need to raise Pokémon but don't have the time? Or do you to learn the basics of Pokémon breeding with Pokémon eggs? Or do you simply want to bond with your Pokémon? Then come to the sunshine day care!" The television switched to an image of a building surrounded by open fields and many different Pokémon all of which looked happy and content. There were a few images of trainers grooming Pokémon and playing with them and looking after different eggs. "Yes the Sunshine day care fulfils all your Pokémon needs because of the award worthy work of Jack and Mary Sunshine." The television then switched to an image of a slightly elderly but happy couple surrounded by Pokémon. "They dedicated their lives to looking after the needs of Pokémon and trainers alike. So visit the Sunshine Day Care today located just south of Cerulean city on route 5!" the television then switched off as I had pressed the remote and the quiet emptiness of the Pokémon centre was made clear. I looked at the remote and grinned. Time to get this party started.

**Elizabeth's POV**

"I got my badge without you!" Billy yelled at me for the millionth time that day.

"So you've told me" I resorted I must had said that line at least a million times as well.

"That just proves my brilliance!" Billy said pumping up his chest "I mean I got a badge and Kyra evolved that proves my genius!" Billy then shoved the blue teardrop badge in my face.

"Does said evolved Pokémon listen to you yet genius?"

"Well no..."

"Then you're not a genius." I replied bluntly causing Billy to sulk.

"Would you guys just stop already?" Paula snapped "Liz you know Billy did a good job at battling and Billy Liz has gotten you out of so many different battles the one that she wasn't in doesn't matter!"

"What did Billy do? The Pokémon does all the work out there!" I argued then I stopped in my tracks. I could hear a weird sound.

"Well you-"Billy yelled.

"Shut up for a second." I said cutting him off.

"Shut up? You're the one who started the argument!"

"No seriously be quiet." Billy looked like he was to yell again so Paula quickly clamped her hand over his mouth perhaps sensing my urgent tone. I took off my hat and let my Pichu ears move in the wind and listen to the surrounding sounds. I could still hear the weird noise but it sounder louder than before. The ground was also vibrating slightly. I sounded almost like a-

"Guys" I said sounding nervous while putting my hat back on "I think we should run"

"What's going on?" Paula said looking worried while Billy tried to escape from her grip.

"No talking just run!" I yelled and grabbed both Paula's and Billy's arms and ran for high ground. Within minutes my suspicions about the sound were confirmed. It was a stampede of Tauros, and they didn't look like they would slow down any time soon. Paula and Billy now knew why I was worried and we doubled our speed. Despite our head start within minutes the stampede was behind us and occasionally we had to dodge an angry horn or hoof. Suddenly we heard beeping and saw a land rover with a mysterious figure inside.

"Help us!" Billy yelled the vehicle came up besides us and driving it was a young man was blue hair in his twenties.

"Quickly jump in or you'll be crushed!" he yelled and we jumped in the car in double quick time. Once we were safe the man pulled away and we breathed a group sigh of relief. "What do you kids think you're doing?" I frowned at being called a kid I was the oldest here after all. "Don't you know these lands are out of bounds? This is the property of Sunshine day care after all!" the what? I have never heard of it. Then again I don't really pay much attention to these types of things.

"The Sunshine day care?" Paula repeated in excitement "isn't this the world famous day care that started a day care in every region?"

"Yes that's why we don't appreciate trespassers on our land." The man said angrily.

"But I thought the Sunshine day care was looked after by Jack and Mary." Billy said. Was I the only one who had never heard of this place?

"It normally is," the man sighed in frustration "But I'm looking after it in the place of my grandparents."

"Grandparents? So that means-"Paula began

"Yes I am Harvey Sunshine the only one of my family who cares about this place" Harvey finished.

**Paula's POV**

Once again Billy had gotten us into trouble I thought as I swept up the Pokémon kennels. Once Harvey had revealed that Jack and Mary were his grandparents he had tried to get us to leave and in his stress blurted out that he 'didn't have time to sort us and the Pokémon out'. Billy just had to stick his foot in it and offer to help and although Harvey was very reluctant he had agreed. So know all of us were doing separate jobs around the day care. Billy had to move the Pokémon into a different field, Liz had to clean and check on all the eggs and I had to clean out the kennels. I had no idea what Harvey was doing but he often paced back and forth and murmured things to himself. Suddenly I heard a loud banging noise. I stopped cleaning and looked around. Seeing nothing I resumed cleaning. Suddenly I heard it again only this time with several other noises. It was coming from a metal door with a small slit in. I walked slowly towards in with my heart in my throat. I reached out and was just about to touch the knob when I felt a hand on my shoulder. "I wouldn't do that if I were you little lady." I spun and saw Harvey smiling at me.

"What's in there?" even though I asked the question a part of me didn't want to know.

"That's were we keep the most violent Pokémon. Some of them have even killed humans. They are the ones we had tried to rehabilitate but with dangerous results. However we can't set them free because they could harm humans or Pokémon. I personally want to put them out of their misery and put them to sleep it seems cruel to keep them locked in there. However granny and grandpa believe any Pokémon can change." Harvey's face darkened at the sight of the door.

"That is cruel there's no way the Pokémon will ever get better if you keep them locked in there. Mary and Jack seemed so nice on the television."

"I'm glad you understand Paula but you can't believe everything you hear or see even if it is on T.V." Harvey then gave me a small smile and walked away. I looked once more at the metal door. If asked me what compelled me to do what I did next I wouldn't be able to answer. I opened the metal door.

**Billy's POV**

This was great! I was seeing more Pokémon than I had ever seen in my life. I was running through the field at full speed with Steve on one side of me and Nicolas on the other. We were rounding up all of the Pokémon to the neighbouring field so they could be put in the barn to sleep. Despite the herd being much bigger than us 3 they all ran away. Inside the heard were all different types of Pokémon from a small Caterpie to a big Rapidash but they all ran from a human, an Eevee and a Nidoran. Quickly we had got them all into the field by the barn.

"Now what do we do?" I asked my Pokémon both of whom shrugged. "I know!" I explained with caused both of them to look at me. "I saw on one of the adverts for this place that they can help you bond with your Pokémon! Harvey can teach me how to bond with Kyra. It won't be breaking my vow because he'll teach me how to bond and then I'll do the bonding techniques myself!" Steve and Nicolas looked doubtful that anybody would ever bond with Kyra but I ignored them. "Let's go!" I sprinted toward the barn where Harvey said he would be working most of the day. My Pokémon tried to catch me up as I ran at full speed towards the barn.

**Elizabeth's POV**

Checking eggs had to one of the most boring jobs in the world. You had to take each egg measure its width than weigh it and polish it. The same routine again and again would drive anyone mad the only difference was the different patterns on the eggs. For some reason on the eggs details it didn't say what type of Pokémon was inside it you think they would have an idea based on the eggs parents or previous eggs that looked like it. I completed the section I was on. Finally I was on the last section 'abandoned eggs' Now why a trainer wouldn't want an egg I have no idea. They could just wait till it hatches teach it survival skills and then set it free. Maybe that would be crueller because then the baby gets to know and love the trainer. I sighed and picked up the first egg then suddenly it began to glow. In my surprised I nearly dropped it. Not knowing what to do I set it down onto the table. The glowing egg started to form arms and legs and within minutes in place of the egg was a small Cubone. We blinked together and the Cubone burst into tears.

"Err... its ok... It's ok..." I said while bouncing it up in the air. I saw a couple of bottles of milk and grabbed one off the table thankful that they kept some here. Within minutes the Cubone had stopped crying and I breathed a sigh of relief. "I should probably tell Harvey you hatched huh?" I said watching the Cubone suckle the milk. "Wait here I'll be back in a minute." I told it and left the room. As soon as I was gone the Cubone was crying again. "What's wrong?" I said and I came back into the room almost immediately the Cubone stopped crying. "Okay that's weird..." I left once again and heard crying. This is turning into the Hokey Cokey. I walked in again and saw Cubone sniffing of the table. Once it saw me its face brightened and it stretched its arms out.

"Mama." it cried trying to grab me. Uh oh. I walked over to the table.

"By mama do you mean me?" I questioned pointing to myself hoping I was wrong.

"Mama!" Cubone cried happily and attempted to walk towards me but it fell on its first attempt. I caught it quickly before it fell onto the ground and picked it up. The rest of the eggs would have to wait I had to see Harvey about a serious problem.

**Paula's POV**

I took a big gasp on what I saw in the room. Mary and Jack were tied up and gagged on the floor. Suddenly I heard the metal door slam behind me and saw Harvey standing there by the small light coming from the door.

"Harvey someone's tied up your grandparents! I just found them in this room they must have realised no one would look here!" I cried in horror.

"You know" Harvey said coldly not bothered at the sight of his grandparents struggling. "I tried to warn you but you didn't listen I told you not to come in here. Now I'll have to make sure you never leave." Harvey said darkly while getting out a Poké ball and my face grew pale.

"B-but they're your grandparents..." I said feeling terrified. Harvey surprisingly burst out laughing causing me to flinch.

"Stupid girl. Didn't I also tell you not to believe everything you hear or see? I am so much more than you realise girl." He then sent out a fierce looking Machoke and I backed off slightly.

"Alice let's get going!" I yelled throwing my Poké ball which bounced harmlessly against the floor causing me to blink. "Alice?" I questioned but the Poké ball didn't react and Alice didn't appear.

"Don't you think I've taken precautions against this type of thing?" Harvey said laughing once more "thank you for revealing your Pokémon to me my master will be most pleased to get two new servants. I wondered how many that will make including the other two and their Pokémon?" Harvey began laughing once more as Machoke advanced on me and I saw a distinct red gleam in their eyes and the world faded to darkness.

_**Gasp... I got another review thank you so much! This was one of the first chapters I planned when thinking of this story so I hope you enjoyed it. Harvey is evil and processed by the black fog two of our heroes are trying to see him what will they uncover along the way? In the anime whenever there is a day care there's hardly ever a fence around it and you can't help thinking that's not safe for random trainers. Whenever they do have a fence it's never something like off Jurassic park which is really high and electric it just a simple wooden fence. Sunshine day care was named after Sunnyside off toy story 3 and the old people that run it are based on the ones in the game. I have decided on the order of the gyms and I'm going to try to get the group to go to every city which is harder for some than for others (like lavender town) Please review and look out for the next chapter but I'm going to have a 2 week break so you'll have to wait a bit for the next update.**_


	22. Dodgy Dealings

Disclaimer- The person who wrote this story does not own Pokémon and the chances are that the people reading it also don't.

Dodgy dealings

**Billy's POV**

I sprinted towards the barn where I knew Harvey would be making sure to first shut the fence so that all our hard work at herding the Pokémon wouldn't go to waste. I headed towards the barn with Nicolas and Steve racing behind me and I burst open the door and yelled.

"Harvey! Harvey? I finished rounding up the Pokémon!" the barn was empty but I was focusing on a more shocking sight. Everywhere Pokémon were in cages with a familiar black fog surrounding them. Some had glowing red eyes and were trying to attack me but the cage held them back. The fog only surrounded the cages like some kind of processing plant so I could walk safely down the middle of the barn without the fog reaching me. Just in case Nicolas and Steve stayed close to my heels sensing my unease. Seeing these Pokémon I realised something was seriously wrong with this day care. I mean the last time this black fog was here the Chinchou were trying to kill us and here with these Pokémon were trapped it looked like they were trying to spread it. I had to tell Paula and Liz about this! I raced toward the Pokémon kennel because they were closest and burst in excepting to find Paula sweeping or complaining about sweeping at least. But the kennels were completely empty. Where was Paula? Or Harvey so I could get some answers? What if it's gotten to Liz as well and I'm the only one left? I quickly shook these thoughts out of my head and started looking around the room. Maybe Paula's just gone for a break or I didn't see her. I soon stopped when I heard a strange noise coming from a metal door. I slowly walked towards it and the noise grew louder. I flung open the door and saw Harvey standing there with a bound and gagged Paula who was unconscious. "WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING?" I screamed at Harvey who sighed.

"Honestly nobody teaches brats manners these days they all think that they can just walk in anywhere and ruin your plans." He then turned to his Pokémon who I had not seen before and said "Machoke teach him some manners like we taught this young lady." Machoke grinned and headed toward me.

"Nicolas and Steve let's do this thing!"Nicolas and Steve jumped from behind me into the small room and glared at the Machoke.

"Wow a trainer who actually has his Pokémon out for once this might actually prove a challenge," Harvey said sarcastically "Let's even up the odds a bit Chatot go!" a strange bird I had never seen before burst into the room but I sensed this wasn't the time to get my Pokedex out. "Machoke use dig and Chatot use uproar!" Machoke managed to dig through the concrete floor using its muscles and immediately after Chatot let out ear splitting screech causing my Pokémon to lie to the floor with their arms over their ears.

"Nicolas use horn attack and Steve use tackle on Chatot!" I yelled as loud as I could but Nicolas and Steve couldn't move due to the noise Chatot was producing. Suddenly Machoke burst underneath them both sending them both flying which distracted Chatot from its uproar. "Steve use quick attack on Chatot! Nicolas use the speed from the fall to use peak on Machoke!" Steve landed on the grounded and sped toward Chatot while it was trying to start uproar again. Steve slammed into Chatot before it could distract my Pokémon again. Meanwhile Nicolas was using the speed from its fall to use a super powered peak toward Machoke.

"Machoke defend yourself!"Harvey yelled and Machoke gave a grin and held up Paula in front of itself.

"Nicolas quickly stop!"I yelled in desperation not wanting to hurt my friend. Nicolas stopped his attack in midair and landed clumsily on the ground skidding to halt in front of Machoke's feet.

"Now use karate chop!" Harvey yelled with an evil glint in his eyes and Machoke sent Nicolas flying into a nearby wall. Nicolas had fainted and there was nothing I could do expect put him back in his Poké ball. "Now Machoke help Chatot get rid of that puny Eevee!" Steve was attempting to attack Chatot but each time the Chatot got out of range. Luckily Steve was too fast for Chatot so neither of them were landing any hits.

"Oh no you don't! Kyra let's get going!" I threw Kyra's poke ball and blinked in surprise when it didn't open. "This isn't your new way of not listening is it?" I asked the Poké ball expecting a moody Kyra to appear until I heard a chuckle.

"So that Pokémon doesn't listen to you! That will just make it easier for it to become a slave to us! And you don't think we've taken measures against trainers! Get that Eevee then we can sort out the boy!" Harvey yelled in a manic voice.

"Steve use sand attack in a whirlwind!" Steve created a sand whirlwind blinding everyone in the room and during it I grabbed my Pokémon and ran. I had to find Liz. There was no way I could take Harvey on with only one Pokémon and I had to let her know what was going on.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I ran through the corridors as fast as possible without disturbing the Cubone. It seemed to cry at every little thing. Without even saying it had a problem. 'Why was this farm so big?' I thought as I raced through the corridors. I must have spent at least half an hour trying to find Harvey. Suddenly I literally ran into Billy.

"LIZ!" he yelled down my ear "Harveyisevilandhe'''sleft!" He blurted in one go.

"What? Say that again in English please." I said unimpressed. Billy rolled his eyes and stamped his foot.

"I said...Harvey is evil! He's got Paula and the day care couple trapped! There a device to stop me releasing my Pokémon from their poke balls so I can only use you and Steve! There a room full of Pokémon getting processed by that fog that infected those Chinchous! And why do you have that Cubone?" my mouth gaped open processing what Billy had just told me. Last time the black fog had been encountered we had left the lake and thought nothing of it afterwards. But this was the second time we had encountered it and it wasn't that long ago since we last saw it. Was Harvey evolved in the black fog? And were people trying to pass it on like a disease? My head hurt from all the thoughts rushing through it. I was snapped into reality by Cubone's crying. Again.

"What's wrong now!" I asked it causing its crying to increase.

"Liz make it stop!" Billy yelled over the noise somehow.

"It's okay don't start crying again. Please?" I begged it causing it remarkably to stop it looked up at me then curled up and went back to sleep. "Long story short the Cubone hatched and thinks I'm its mum. I was going to see Harvey about it when I got lost and bumped into you." I said causing Billy to smirk.

"Mummy's very protective about her new baby isn't she?" he said tickling Cubone underneath the chin.

"Billy now's really not the time." I said in a stern voice. Then I look around the endless corridors and realised something. "Billy you do know how to get back right?" Billy's smirk immediately faltered and I face palmed. It looked like saving the day would have to wait until we found a map.

**Paula's POV**

I woke up bleary eyed to see Harvey typing something in to a nearby computer. I panicked then realised I was bound and gagged along with the day care couple Mary and Jack who looked at me with pity in their eyes. Suddenly I heard a strange noise and the room filled with light.

"I trust things are proceeding smoothly." A deep unfamiliar voice said. I struggled to see the person on the screen but the bounds were so tight I could barely move a centimetre. Harvey eyes became an darker red before he spoke.

"Almost Master we just have a slight pest problem at the day care." Harvey answered his voice almost robotic.

"Pest problem? I thought you eliminated any threat from the day care couple." The deep voice said.

"Yes Master however I made a slight error of judgment." There was silence from the other person but when Harvey next spoke his voice sounded almost afraid. "I let three trainers into the day care centre thinking that I could manipulate them into helping me sort the rest of the Pokémon out. Then afterward I could control them to get new slaves for you. However I was careless and they discovered our operation." Harvey said still robotic sounding but it seemed like his voice was shaking.

"This is most troubling. I must ensure this problem doesn't happen at our other processing plants. You have disappointed me." The deep voice said and I felt a chill of fear running down my spine.

"Yes Master but they are just children. I've already caught one of the trainers and out of the other two one doesn't even have any Pokémon!" there a lengthy silence and I desperately tried to catch a glimpse of the man on the screen. Whatever he was up to he had to be stopped.

"Be that as it may you shouldn't under estimate them. One broken wire cab leaves an area without power for days. Ensure they are taken care of. If you cannot convert them to our cause kill them. That goes for the day care couple as well if you cannot break their minds. "There was a similar noise and the room once again fell to darkness.

"HARVEY LET EVERYONE GO NOW!" yelled a voice from outside the room. I'd know that voice anywhere. It was Billy.

**Billy's POV**

There was no answer from inside the room so I kicked the door open. "Harvey I challenge you to a battle! " I yelled at Harvey.

"So much for taking them by surprise..." Liz muttered from besides me.

"They are surprised just look at their faces." I muttered back. Well Paula, Mary and Jack looked surprised. Harvey looked furious. Then his raged turned into something of a victorious smile.

"Well it appears now I don't have to go through the trouble of looking for you. I almost thought you might have been smart and had brought someone else like the police to help you." Harvey said causing me to frown. Nobody would believe us if we told them and if load of people stormed the day care he might kill his hostages. At least that's what Elizabeth told me. Now Harvey was saying it out loud it made me really angry.

"Human-Pokémon!" Chatot cried causing all of us to look at it in confusion.

"Yes you stupid bird I know that the human has Pokémon but he can hardly send them out can he? He only has that weakling Eevee and the girl... well it turns out she has a Cubone but that looks just as weak." Chatot shook its head and flew over to Liz who turned pale. The Chatot wasn't talking about me it was talking about Liz trying to tell Harvey that something else was threatening his plans. "What do you have other Pokémon on you girl?" Liz breathed a slight sigh of relief and nodded her head. Until Chatot started pecking her.

"Hey stop it you stupid bird!" she cried trying to swat it away. I remembered when Liz was sick (chapter 6) her body kept her in Pichu form because Pokémon heal quicker. Would it also change when she was in trouble I wondered? Apparently so as she began to glow and change into a Pichu much to Harvey's, Mary's and Jack's shock.

"Pichu." Liz said with a cheeky grin and knowing her she probably just said busted Cubone looked at in confusion having woken up from all the confusion and immediantly hugged her. Being the same size Liz couldn't get away and if we were in a different situation it would be funny. Harvey began to laugh again and I thought for a minute he had laughed at the sight.

"That is most interesting. A very useful skill. It could even threaten us in the right hands. Too bad some nobody girl has it. Maybe if you surrender now I'll get you a good position with the Master." Harvey said with an evil glint in his red eyes.

"No way will we surrender!" I cried and Liz nodded in agreement.

"Then you leave me with no choice! Machoke and Chatot take them out!" Harvey yelled.

"Steve now!" I yelled and Steve jumped into the room and did his sand attack whirlwind that allowed us to escape before only this time we were using it to cover our moves. The battle to save Paula and the Pokémon had begun.

**Cubone's POV**

I lost sight of my mother and the nice boy when another Pokémon did some attack. I cried but my mum couldn't hear me. I desperately wanted to help her to prove I was as strong as she was. I wiped the tears that were forming in my eyes. I was determined to help my Mama in anyway.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I was sure I could hear Cubone but maybe I was just being paranoid. I can't exactly comfort it when I'm about to battle a very strong Machoke anyway.

"Liz use Thundershock!" I gave it most of my energy but Machoke just looked like I had done something as harmless as a flick to it. I was then picked up before I could react and thrown into Steve in a seismic toss move.

"Hey watch it Liz I'm trying to hit this stupid pigeon!" Steve cried as I slammed into him. Chatot then proceed to trying to peck us both which because we were both speedy we managed to dodge.

"How about we switch? You take on the giant muscle Pokémon and I'll take on the tiny bird!" I cried in protest as I saw Machoke heading towards us.

"Steve and Liz stop fighting take out the Chatot then both attack Machoke!" Billy yelled. Who knew double battles could be so complicated with all the different humans and Pokémon shouting at you. Well Billy was shouting Harvey was standing there grinning with shadows surrounding him and going into his Pokémon which was somehow controlling them without Harvey saying anything. I let a huge Thundershock and remarkably it hit Chatot who immediately fainted.

"Yes! One down one to go!" Steve yelled happily.

"You didn't even do that much..." I said bluntly causing Steve to frown.

"I did so! I helped Billy escape! I got you here even though you were too much of an idiot to figure out where to go! And I covered up our moves so it's easier for us to move!" I sweat dropped at the memory of the tiny Eevee leading us back here and said nothing. "Besides you didn't even knock out that Chatot!"

"What?" I turned to see Chatot surrounded by shadows slowly pushing itself upwards using its wings. "Okay now that's just not fair. I know I knocked you out." I said I didn't receive an answer (not that I was expecting to) and was picked up once again by Machoke. I had completely forgot about the big muscle Pokémon of fun (sarcasm). The Machoke threw me into the air and then Karate chopped me to the concrete floor. Then again Steve was having about as much fun as I was as Chatot used its uproar it deafen him. If my head wasn't already ringing it would have defiantly started now. I was glad that Billy told us just to improvise otherwise I wouldn't have a clue what he was yelling at me.

"You see! You cannot defeat me!" Harvey yelled as I looked at him. The shadows around his body had multiplied so that they twisted around his body like tentacles. He no longer looked like there was an inch of humanity left in his soul. The darkness also increased around Chatot and Machoke and their seemed to grow stronger. I had no idea why they needed a power up it wasn't like they weren't thrashing us already. Suddenly a movement on the wooden beams on the ceiling caught my attention and I saw the small Cubone walking across the beams using his club for balance. "Nobody can stop me now!" Harvey cried in victory.

"This is for hurting my Mama!" he cried then jumped as his club began to glow in what I recognised as a bone club attack. He hit Harvey strongly on the back of the head causing him to collapse and the shadows left Harvey's body. Then the shadow link between Harvey and his Pokémon broke and they to collapsed. All was quiet and Cubone grinned at me and hugged me.

"Mama did I do good?" I looked up at him and patted his back too tired to speak. Steve sat up and looked around.

"Is that it?" he said causing me to grin.

**Paula's POV**

After the battle was over and Harvey was knocked out we had immediately phoned the police and they took him and his Pokémon away. Apparently they wanted to see what had caused them to be possessed or whether he could remember anything about the mysterious man I had heard on the screen. As soon as he was knocked out the black fog from all the Pokémon seemed to disappear as well without a trace. I had a funny feeling that it wouldn't be the last we saw of it. We had rescued the day care couple and learnt that they had taken on Harvey as an apprentice a couple of months ago. When he was apparently a really nice guy I almost couldn't believe them. He had started acting strangely about two week ago and when they had questioned him he had turned of them. He also managed to lie to others by saying they were his grandparents because everyone called them grandma and Grandpa anyway. Mary and Jack saw how much Cubone liked Liz and decided to let her keep him she had let Billy catch it because she didn't want to carry it around all the time but Billy let it help us restore the day care. I think the real reason was so that he could laugh when it hugged her leg when she was cleaning. Jack and Mary had also sworn not to tell anyone about Liz being able to transform because she had helped to save their lives. We had spent the rest of the day freeing all of the Pokémon from their cages and getting the day care back to its usual self and now we were ready to hit the road once again.

"Once again thanks for rescuing us thank to you we can free all the Pokémon and let them experience the care they should have received" Mary said happily with her arm around Jack.

"It was nothing..." Liz said while staring at her trainers.

"Happy to help anytime!" Billy said with a big smile

"Here let us repay you..."Jake said while looking in his bag for something and produced a pure red egg and held it towards Liz and Billy who both backed off.

"No way it's against my vow!"Billy cried causing Mary and Jack to flinch slightly,

"No thanks I don't want to be called Mama again" Liz said bluntly causing Mary and Jack look at her with knowing smiles in their eyes. "I mean I can't take your egg when I've already got Cubone" she said holding up the Cubone who looked intent in her arms. I stared at the egg. I really wanted it but I didn't want to be rude. Jack saw me staring and chuckled.

"Here you go young lady" and he gave me the egg which was surprisingly heavy and slightly warm.

"B-but I can't..."

"Of course you can consider it a thank you from us to you all. Who knows you may need the Pokémon that's inside one day."

"Okay thank you so much!" I said while putting the egg in my bag. We said our goodbyes and continued on our journey. Billy hummed a song I wasn't familiar with while Liz carried Cubone and all was peaceful. Suddenly Cubone started so loud that Billy and I had to put our hands over our ears. "What's wrong with it?" I yelled over the noise.

"What makes you think I know!" Liz yelled over the noise. "Cubone?" the Cubone's cries seemed to get even louder if that where possible "What's wrong Cubone?" Cubone's cries seemed to get into our very bodies and I wondered if they could hear it in other countries.

"Liz!" Billy yelled "Give it a name!"

"How will that help?" Liz yelled back as she held Cubone at arm's length in a vain attempt to reduce the noise. "Calm down um... Daniel..." Almost immediately Cubone (or Daniel as Liz had called him) seemed to stop crying and hugged Liz's hand in happiness. "Wow... how did you know that would work?" Liz asked Billy in confusion.

"It's simple Daniel only cried when you called him Cubone he must have wanted a name." Billy stated smugly with his chest puffed up. "It's always hard trying to figure out what your baby wants when you're a new mother." Billy stated causing Liz to frown.

"I'm not Daniel's mother."

"There's nothing like a new bond between a mother and her child." I said batting my eyelids.

"Hello. Are you hearing me? I'm not Daniel's mother." Liz said her frown increasing. Suddenly Daniel started crying once more. "Oh please don't cry again." Liz snapped causing Daniel to cry more. "Don't cry...Mama's here..." She said bouncing him slightly and he calmed down as quickly as he started crying. She then turned to us. "Not. A. Word." the two of us raised our eyebrows at her then burst out laughing. Things were defiantly going to become more fun around here.

**?'S POV**

The fool. How could he get captured? He could have blown the whole operation! I took a deep breath and sunk lower into the bushes so that the police wouldn't see me. I watched as Harvey was loaded into the police as he looked like a zombie with Machoke and Chatot being carried behind him captured by some kind of metal ring keeping Chatot wings attached to its body and Machoke arms behind its back. Chatot began squawking as his head turned and I knew he had spotted me. Luckily he was still under the black fogs influence just enough to still be loyal to us.

"Human-Pokémon!" the Chatot yelled obviously trying to give me a message. "Human-Pokémon!" he yelled as he was shut into the van. Human-Pokémon what did that mean? Whatever it meant it had obviously had something to do with the operation failing and I intended to stop it.

_**Okay I know it's been a while but I've been struggling to finish all my work and some of the stories I've been following get near to the end and then take months to update. On a side note Billy's got a Cubone and Paula has an egg! Originally I was going to give Billy an egg but Paula only has one Pokémon and originally she was going to catch one (And soon) but I've changed the idea for that chapter. I had some trouble thinking of this chapter because I only had ideas for the beginning and the end. I know that the gangs' ending was lame but at least I finished the chapter off ok. The question mark POV from the last chapter is the same as the one for this chapter because when I read the previous chapter I realised it sounded like Harvey was question mark because he was evil and in the day care. When I was looking up Chatot for its moves on Bulbapedia it actually looked evil so I thought it was quite ironic. I sure these chapters are getting longer each time I write one. Oh well please continue to read and review **_


	23. Mia and Meowth!

Disclaimer- A long time ago... in a galaxy far, far away... I didn't own Pokémon and still don't today!

A load of Meowth!

**Elizabeth's POV**

I watched the sky as we trudged along the beaten path slowly. It was a beautiful day and the sun was high in the sky so Billy and Paula had decided to send out their Pokémon as we walked while I stared lazily at the sky from inside Billy's hood.

"Liz you should walk as well! It's not good for your health if you spend all day lying down!" Alice shouted at me while I ignored her.

"Lady Alice you should not bother with that good for nothing Pichu" Nicolas said smugly. I continued to stare at the sky. I really need some sunglasses I thought as my eyes began to hurt.

"Mama! Steve won't play with me!" Daniel whined ever since those two met Steve has refused to play with Daniel because he's too young to understand the concept of the game and Steve couldn't be bothered teaching him. He didn't seem to understand that everyone needs to learn things at some point. I said nothing though knowing how this argument would end.

"You're boring though!" Steve complained back "you can't run fast, you don't understand the rules and every time you lose you cry!" Steve said harshly causing Daniel's eyes to water.

"Steve play nicely with Daniel!" Alice scolded causing Steve to flinch at the fierceness on her face.

"Sorry Daniel," Steve said while kicking at the ground.

"It's okay. Next time well play hide and seek with everyone! That doesn't involve running!" Daniel said happily.

"Even Lady Kyra?" Nicolas asked before he could stop himself. Talking about Kara just seemed to bring out a bad atmosphere in everyone. She still hadn't said anything to any of us besides her name and the fact that she attacked Billy nearly every time she was out (Food seemed to calm her down occasionally) made to the fact she was released less and less. I sighed at the sky she was the only one not outside today even when it was so nice.

"Sure I bet she'll be brilliant at hiding!" Steve said happily with the two youngest Pokémon oblivious to the atmosphere around them.

"No sweetheart" Alice spoke with a tone of disappointment "If Kyra hides the chances are she'll never be found again."

"Why is she that good at hide and seek?" Steve asked obliviously causing all of us to sigh.

"Alas the simple thoughts of youth. How I miss them so." Nicolas said with a sigh causing me to finally pay attention.

"How old are you anyway?" I asked causing Nicolas to blush. Before I could pester for an answer we were interrupted by a very familiar voice.

"Shift! I have to catch that Meowth!"

"Mama what's a Meowth?" Daniel asked me just as a small white cat ran through our group.

"That's a Meowth." I said simply when it was followed by a whirlwind of colour leading Billy and Paula and all of the Pokémon to collapse in on themselves and the thing that ran into them. I sat up and rubbed my aching head to the sound of Daniel's crying. Can't we walk down a road without something happening anymore?

**Billy's POV**

What had happened? We were walking very peacefully down the route and the next thing I knew I was knocked to the ground. Along with Paula and all of my Pokémon it seems. I looked around to see my Pokémon in a messy pile, Paula struggling for freedom underneath them all, Liz patting Daniel on the back and there was a pair of very familiar pink eyes staring into mine. At the same time we shouted.

"It's you!" for sitting directly opposite was Mia my rival in the Pewter city tournament.

"What are you doing here?" I asked in shock.

"Well I found myself ahead of my training schedule so I decided now would be the perfect time to catch a new Pokémon! What about you?" Mia said happily.

"Um we're just heading to the next gym..." I said thinking that my answer was somehow wrong. We really didn't have a plan of where to go.

"Do you happen to know where that might be?" Mia said with a raise eyebrow sensing my hesitation.

"No we were just heading toward the nearest city." I answered truthfully.

"Well there is one in Saffron but I heard rumours that it's really tough for beginners." Mia said thoughtfully.

"Beginners? I have two badges now!" I resorted angrily.

"That's nice." Mia said with a smug smile "I have three." She showed me her badge case with three badges like mine but slightly different. She had one that looked like a small mountain, amount which was square with pictures of waves on it and a final badge which was golden and looked like lighting.

"Badges aren't everything!" I shouted defending my pride.

"You're the one who brought them up..." Mia said with a sigh. I ranked my brain to find something to throw in her face.

"Excuse me? Some of us could us a little help over here?" Paula interrupted. We both turned to see her still trapped underneath the Pokémon only now they seemed more tangled as Liz and a now happy Daniel tried in vain to free them. Mia and I sweat dropped and got onto work. Eventually we untangled the mass of hands, legs and claws to free everyone. Then Mia and Paula got acquainted and we had lunch with Mia and her two Pokémon Gastly and Sandshrew.

"So why do you want to catch that Meowth so badly?" Paula asked munching on a sandwich while all the Pokémon ate Pokémon food though Liz was very reluctant and stared at the bread in longing. I shook my head discretely at her it wouldn't be considered natural of her to start eating human food in her current state after all.

"Well I had this battle with the really harsh trainer who used that Meowth. I won and he got really angry and ran off. I followed him and saw him abusing that poor Meowth then he released it and left it for dead." Mia said sadly.

"That's terrible..." Paula said looking at her Pokémon worryingly.

"Exactly so I decided to nurse it back to health then catch it afterwards because it probably wouldn't survive in the wild. I wanted to show it all humans weren't bad and like I said I've wanted a new Pokémon for a while now."

"What happened?" I asked burning with rage. If I ever met this guy I would thrash him in a battle I resolved.

"The Meowth ran off during the night when I was asleep. It was probably worried I was going to hurt it. I was trying to catch it then talk things over when I bumped into you guys." Mia said with a sad look on her face. Liz walked over and patted Mia's hand while I stared on in some surprise. Mia looked at Liz with tears in her eyes "Thank little Pichu. Was Liz your name?" Liz looked at her then nodded. "Thanks Liz!" Mia said with a smile then she ruffled Liz's head until Liz swatted Mia's hand away annoyed and jumped off the table. I'm just surprised Liz didn't shock Mia.

"Okay let's find that Meowth!" I yelled causing everyone to look at me.

"It's okay Billy really..." Mia said with shock on her face.

"No we're more likely to find and convince it if more of us are looking!" I said determined.

"Good idea we'll defiantly find it if we all look together!" Paula said happily.

"Chu chu pi." Liz said in a disappointed tone. I glared at her just knowing that she didn't feel like helping.

"Then it's settled!" I said before Mia could speak with an extra glare in Liz's direction for empathises. "We'll head out!" I cried then my stomach made a fierce grumble. "Right after lunch!" I cried which caused everyone to laugh.

**Paula's POV**

"Meowth where are you?" I cried into the forest wishing the cat would appear already. We had been searching for hours and the peaceful day had now turned into uncomfortable heat. Alice had soaked me down several times trying to help keep me cool but being soaking wet hardly aided my task so I kindly asked her to stop.

"Meowth please come out!" Mia yelled in the distance.

"Pic u chu!" Liz yelled nearby.

"MEOWTH WHERE ARE YOU?" Billy yelled from on top of a tree causing several Pokémon to fly away. He probably scared half the forest away with that shout.

"Any luck?" Mia cried running to me with Gastly and Sandshrew by her.

"No not yet" I said in a disappointed tone while Billy climbed down from the tree.

"If only if one of us had a flying type! Billy yelled to the sky while his Pokémon emerged from the bushes where they had been looking.

"I would have used Gastly to scoop the area but the amount of time it's been blown away by the wind makes it too risky." Mia said still sounding disappointed.

"No one's blaming you." I said quickly patting her on the back.

"That's right! We'll just find Meowth the hard way!" Billy said as he clenched his fist in victory. "By the way where is Liz? She should have got here by now." the three of us looked around as we released she was nowhere in sight. Daniel's eyes began to water as Billy panicked and picked him up. "I'm sure she's fine your mama will come back any minute." He looked at the bushes in expectation. "She will come back right Paula?"He whispered to me.

"Why are you asking me? You know Liz can be hard to read. She might have finally got fed up and gone home." I whispered back. Daniel's eyes seemed to water even more.

"Liz you can stop messing around now." Billy called nervously while he was met by silence.

"Do something you guys that Cubone looks like it's about to snap." Mia whispered. Suddenly Daniel let out one his ear splitting cries.

"Too late" I said simply.

"Do something you're the trainer!" Mia yelled at Billy.

"Daniel calm down. We'll look for mama together okay?" Billy said in an attempt to calm him down.

"Now we have two Pokémon to find in a giant forest." Mia said in annoyance while Daniel calmed himself down. I was really worried although she seemed to have an unbothered attitude Liz didn't seem to be the type to walk away. Which led to the question where was she?

**Elizabeth's POV**

This was stupid. Walking in a boiling hot forest looking for a Pokémon. I told Billy it wouldn't make a difference even if we look but no he just wouldn't listen (Even though he couldn't understand me when I said it). Plus I was a Pichu so every small log I could normally just step over was a mountain I needed to bypass. I stopped realising that I had no idea where I was or where I was going. I could no longer hear the group which was a big deal as that lot were probably as noisy as a truck. I climbed up a nearby tree one thing that I was thankful in this journey is that my climbing skills have increased and my fear of heights was almost none existent, though getting over it might have something to do with the countless dangerous situations. I ignored the various ants trying to climb over me as I scanned the land looking for any sign of the 3 trainers or where we had set up lunch. I didn't see them but I saw something more interesting. The Meowth. I could tell it was the right one because it looked beaten and bruised. I jumped over to it.

"Hi what's up?" I said trying to be friendly. The Meowth just turned the other way. The one time I try and be friendly why does it always blow up in my face? "You look pretty beaten up what happened?" I said my patience waning thin.

"Not your concern is it?" the Meowth said in a grumpy deep voice.

"Help me..." an unfamiliar voice said and we turned to see Gastly flying past with the wind causing us both to sweat drop. How could we help something we couldn't even touch?

"Gastly return!" Mia shouted from below the trees and the Gastly was sucked back to its Poké ball. "You did well finding them." She said loudly then muttered "even if you were blown here by accident."

"Liz! There you are!" Billy shouted from next to Mia "And you found Meowth as well!"

"Thank you Captain Obvious!" I yelled back rather pointlessly. Meowth stood up and started shaking violently.

"No I won't go back... You can't make me... I refuse to be mistreated again!" he yelled violently causing me to look at him in shock.

"You know... Mia's really nice I'm sure she won't hurt you... and it's not like you can survive out here..." I said trying to calm it down.

"I refuse to put my trust in a human again!" it cried and ran off jumping from branch to branch.

"Liz stop it!" Billy yelled. I was already one step ahead trying to catch it up.

"Meowth don't go!" Mia yelled and the group started chasing me and Meowth from the ground. The chase was on.

**Paula's POV**

We chased Liz jumping with ease from branch to branch. It was a lot harder for us as we had to look up at the Pokémon but down at it ground to make sure we weren't about to run into a log or a tree. We soon came to a dead end where the forest was over and saw Liz talking with the Meowth who was standing dangerously near a cliff edge.

"Pi Pichu chu pi uchu Pichu!" Liz cried toward the Meowth probably trying to convince it that we weren't bad people.

"Meo owth owth Meowth!" Meowth cried in protest and took a step further backwards it looked terrified.

"Meowth I swear I won't be like that last trainer you had! I'll treat you well and train you to the best you can be without violence!" Mia shouted at the Meowth. The Meowth looked at as if it might believe her words then shook its head.

"Mo eth Meowth!" it shouted back in rage. Then the cliff broke. "MEOWTH!" it shouted in fear.

"Meowth no!" Mia cried and jumped after it before any of us could stop her.

"Kara use psychic to slow their fall!"Billy shouted releasing Kyra who teleported away. "No! My friend is in danger!" he shouted when she vanished. Suddenly she reappeared with Mia holding a shaking Meowth In her arms.

"Wow that's one smart Pokémon you have there Billy. If you have used psychic we might have not stopped on time." Mia said in admiration.

"Really?" Billy said looking at Kyra with admiration.

"What? So your just a big softie aren't you?" I said to Kyra who glared at me making me quiet in an instant. Suddenly we heard purring and saw Meowth cuddling up to Mia. "Looks like you've got a new Pokémon as well!" I said with a smile.

"Right we're going to make an awesome team! We'll be unbeatable!" Mia said holding up Meowth happily.

"I bet I could thrash you in an instant!" Billy said in determination.

"Bring it then!" Mia shout as sparks seemed to come out of the two trainer's eyes as Liz and I sighed in defeat. Suddenly we had a beeping noise coming from Mia's watch. "Ahh! I forgot I was meant to be visiting someone in Cerulean city by now!" she pointed to Billy "we'll have our battle next time!" she then dashed off "SEE YOU LATER!" she yelled leaving us to blink in confusion. Then we continued on our journey. The next stop was Saffron City.

_**Yay a review! It's great that you like the story and its good that you are planning your own I'll defiantly check it out and thank you for the OC he seems really interesting so he's going in the story look out for the chapter 'Big City, Small world' to see him in action this chapter was originally going to be a catching competition for one Meowth between Paula and Mia which ended in them both catching one Meowth each but since Paula got an egg it wasn't really necessary for her to catch anything. The groups finally decided where to go Saffron city! That just meant they were walking about just looking for city with a gym before not really good preparation ahead then again it was my original idea for the group to (censored) and then (censored) then (censored). Ha ha I love withholding information from readers. I was reading on chapter to and I forgot that I had made Liz have a fear of heights so the chapters after when she was climbing up a giant Onix weren't that realistic so I decided to mention she's gotten over the fear even though no one can probably remember the fear in the first place. Oh yes I decided to mention this but I decided the Pokémon world is a world with Pokémon and animals but with less species of animals. Otherwise I don't think the Pokémon world makes sense. I mean they only show a few Pokémon attempting to eat others but say loads are carnivores and it the anime in Kanto there was an episode where Ash was in the cerulean gym and you could see actual fish in the aquarium. I just thought I would clear that up because I've mentioned normal animals in the story a few times now.**_

_**If anyone else wants to submit a OC feel free to because I was planning for a new elite 4 and champion but haven't planned any of them (Expect the champion) and I have only two bad guys in mind (Question mark and the Master) both of whom haven't been given names or appeared properly yet (but Master probably won't appear until near the end). Plus I can't do battle tournaments if Billy only has 2 rivals and one of them isn't even that important (Mia only appeared because I had to fill up a chapter and she probably won't appear again for a while) and Paula only has one rival but I do have an idea for a future rival. So if you have any idea's for characters feel free to submit them **_

_**Just give me their name (it doesn't have to be a full name)**_

_**Meeting place (it can be anywhere but bear in mind that the cities that the group has already been to wont be visited again for a while and be specific and it has to be in Kanto as I have no plans for other regions at this point. It can also be in places like the cycling road not just cities)**_

_**Pokémon (only six I don't want to remember more than that and any nicknames you really want your Pokémon to have (try to keep these to a minimum because I tend to only give major character's Pokémon nicknames.) The Pokémon can be from any region)**_

_**History – What town/ city/ region the person is from. if they have a secret past. This may not be necessary if you just want a plain old trainer. Maybe whether they treat their Pokémon well or if they're afraid of them...**_

_**What type of character they are- Bad guys, friends, rivals, elite 4, love interests etc... or trainers, rangers, coordinators, breeders etc**_

_**Obviously some characters may appear more than others but I grantee that all OC's will all appear in the end (which is very far away at this point but I need several character's for)**_

_**Keep in mind I am trying to get the characters to go all over the place so the chances are that they will appear but if I have a major story planned for that area they may only have a cameo and then appear properly in a few chapters and obviously they are only 4 elite 4 so if I get more I'll either pick the ones I like or have others be constantly challenging the elite 4 for a position or doing something else. If your submitting OC's PM because I don't want to constantly check both reviews and PM's for OC's.**_

_**Please review or submit OC's or both. I won't ask for OC's again (well maybe I will but it's very unlikely) and if I don't get any I can always improvise. If no one submits anything I'll just continue as planned but it will make the story interesting with more characters rather than just cramming more in at the end. The characters also have to be original no people saying 'I would really like professor Oak to appear' because he won't. Reviews are appreciated **_


	24. Big City, Small World!

Disclaimer- I do not own Pokémon or OC Luke who belongs to BloodStarGeneral

Big City, Small World!

**Billy's POV**

The three of us gasped as Saffron city came into view. It was the biggest city in Kanto and as the three of us came from small towns it was a truly an amazing sight.

"Yes!" I cried "Finally time to go the gym!" I started marching towards the city until I felt a hand grab my collar.

"Hold it! This is Saffron city! There are plenty of other things to do besides go to the gym!" Paula cried in protest.

"Like what?" I said in confusion.

"Like the Silph Corporation building, the railway station and the famous food!" Liz said from besides me listing things off on her fingers.

"Never mind that!" Paula cried "The famous malls! I have been dying to get new clothes!" Paula cried happily clutching her hands to her chest while Liz and I pulled a face at her.

"Those unimportant things can wait until after my gym match!" I cried in protest. Suddenly my stomach growled in betrayal.

"Two against one!" Liz cried in victory before I could pass off the sound as something else. "Time to get something to eat!" she set off down the path while we followed her.

"But we're not going on some boring factory or railway tour!" I quickly shouted.

"But I wanted to go shopping..." Paula said reluctantly following Liz and me.

"Well we can do that after my match" I said smugly to Paula looking forward to eating.

When we got closer to the city there were many people coming in and out of it. Suddenly Liz bumped into a boy about her age with long black hair (even longer then Liz's) wearing a beanie hat, a black polo t-shirt and ripped up jeans. By his side was a very strong looking Umbreon and I wondered if Steve would ever evolve into something that powerful.

"Ah sorry..." Liz said.

"No problem it's a busy city after all," The boy said kindly and we continued on our way. I noticed Liz had a slight frown on her face.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"It's nothing." Liz said with a look back to the street before we entered Saffron.

**Luke's POV**

I stared after the group. There was something about the girl that seemed familiar.

"Hey Shadow do I know that girl?" I asked my Umbreon while feeling my lucky amulet underneath my shirt.

"I am not familiar with her Master." My Umbreon replied looking at the group as well. "It is a big city though we might have encountered her before." I smiled at my Umbreon the group was now out of sight and we were alone on the street so there was no chance of anyone overhearing us.

"Shadow, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me master? It's Luke." I complained at my Pokémon.

"Sorry Master. However there was something about that girl that was odd." Shadow said.

"Odd? What do you mean?" I questioned.

"She smelt the same as you."

"T-that's impossible..." I stuttered. I turned back to the city and rushed inside it to find the group gone from my sight.

"Forget about it Master. I'm sure I was just mistaken anyway." Shadow said looking up at me.

"Can you pick up her scent Shadow?" I asked my Umbreon ignoring his words I knew as well as any researcher (if not better) how well a Pokémon could smell.

"It is too difficult in a city with this many people in it." Shadow said in defeat.

"It doesn't matter..." I weighed up my options. It was going to be nearly impossible to find her in a city this big. I fiddled with my amulet. It was a habit I had picked up whenever I was worried or stressed. It reminded me of my hometown and my childhood friend both of which I hadn't seen in three years. I shook my head to clear it of memories of the past. When all this was over I swore to return home and properly apologise for leaving my friend without saying goodbye but everyday her face seemed to get more blurred in my mind. "Harry go!" I released my small Hoothoot Harry who looked slightly nervous in being in such a big city. "I know you don't really like flying in cities but I need you do me a favour. There's a group of three trainers somewhere in this city. One of them is a girl and she apparently smells like me." Harry's eyebrow shot up in surprise but he continued to stare at me. "I need you to find her and confirm whether this is true. Then if it is find me and lead me to her." Harry nodded and flew away. I looked at my flying type in worry. He couldn't speak due to some kind of accident with his vocal cords. I didn't know what had happened but he didn't seem to be injured when I caught him. He was also small for his species so I was always worried when I sent him out. There was no helping it this time though. "Come on Shadow we'll look on the ground!" I said and ran further into the city.

"I still think this is a mistake..." Shadow said reluctantly from by side and chased after me.

**Elizabeth's POV**

We pushed through the sea of crowds in an attempt to reach the famous Saffron City restaurant. I had hold of Billy's and Paula's arms so that we wouldn't get separated.

"Liz maybe we should give up and go shopping instead." Paula cried next from to me. I gripped both trainers' arms harder.

"It will just be this packed at the malls anyway!" I shouted back. "Besides we're nearly there!"

"How can you tell?" Billy yelled at me "I can't even see the sky thanks to all these buildings and people!"

"I can smell it!" I yelled back. I could almost taste the all sorts of delicious smells coming from straight ahead.

"Great! I've heard about people following their noses but this is just ridiculous!" Paula yelled at me. Suddenly I was encountered by the door of the restaurant.

"Yes we're here!" I cried in victory and opened the door still dragging Billy and Paula from behind me.

"May I help you?" a nearby waiter said

"T-table for three please..." Paula said sounding dizzy. We were led to our table and awaited our meal.

**Paula's POV**

I sighed with satisfaction as I finished my meal. I hate to admit it but Liz was right about getting food first and shopping later.

"Great now we're all finished I can finally challenge the gym!" Billy cried in victory.

"NO WAY!" I shouted determined not to lose this fight. "We can defiantly go shopping now!"

"Why don't we let Liz decide then?" Billy said with a grin causing me to frown Liz didn't like shopping so she was bound to pick the gym. We both turned to see Liz only to see her asleep on the table as a Pichu. The food was so good it had sent her to sleep and I silently wondered when she had found the time to change into a Pokémon. "Liz! Wake up! Time to battle!" Billy whispered shaking Liz.

"Chu pi chu..." Liz muttered in her sleep then she electrocuted Billy.

"It looks like your starter just isn't in the mood." I said with a grin at Billy who was fried to a crisp and frowning at Liz.

"I'll just do it without her then!" Billy cried and he put the sleeping Liz in his hood.

"You really want to take on an apparently hard gym without all of your Pokémon at your disposal?" I questioned causing Billy to grit his teeth in frustration. "How about this? Let's flip a coin whoever wins can do want they want for today and we have to do the other's activity later." I suggested. Billy looked at me thought about it and nodded.

"Sounds fair enough." I flipped 1 Poke in the air. "I call heads!" Billy quickly yelled. It landed on tails. I gave Billy an evil grin and he gulped.

"I'm sure you know what this means..." I said with an evil glint in my eyes.

**Billy's POV**

"SHOPPING TIME!" Paula shrieked by my ears as soon as we got to the mall. It was strange but as soon as we got there she seemed to automatically know where everything was so I ended up trailing her like a lost puppy. I eyed the sleeping Liz with discontent if only if she wasn't so lazy maybe I wouldn't have to suffer this torture. Paula ran up to me and gave me another bag we had been here for an hour and she had already got three bags. I wondered how on earth she would carry all of this when we hit the road again. "Wait on this bench I want to check out all the shops near here before we move on to a different area!" Paula said happily. I sighed with relief and sat on the bench when Paula ran off. It wasn't so bad here there were a couple of cool shops but Paula was mainly interested in clothes. I stared out a nearby open window suddenly a round Pokémon I had never seen before flew up to the ledge.

"What the-?" I quickly got out my Pokedex_. 'Hoothoot, the Owl Pokémon. These birds are normally active at night. It tends to only stand on one foot and it can keep time by tilting its head.'_ I stared at the Pokémon it was indeed only standing on one leg and tilting its head slightly. I walked slowly up to the window ledge and the Hoothoot didn't react and knelt down near it. "I've never seen a bird like you in Kanto before." I told it. It flew through the open window and landed on my shoulder and looked around at all the shoppers at the mall. For such a small Pokémon it sure was heavy. Suddenly it saw the sleeping Liz and its expression changed. It pecked her a few times then flew away. I blinked in confusion. It was probably a good thing Liz didn't wake up otherwise that Hoothoot might have been shocked (literally).

"I'm ready to buy more clothes!" I heard the happy Paula yell and I groaned. More hell was coming my way.

**Luke's POV**

I felt like I and Shadow had searched the whole of Saffron but I knew that we hadn't even searched a quarter. I once again fiddled with my amulet and re adjusted my Bernie. I had to find her. If she knew anything I could finally return to my normal life. I thought of my childhood friend again and for some reason the girl who I was looking for popped into my mind. I shook my head. It was highly unlikely that this girl was like me. It was even more unlikely that she was the past I was forced to leave behind. Suddenly I heard the flapping of wings and knew Harry had returned.

"So did you find them?" I asked my Hoothoot and he nodded his head. "And is she like me?" Harvey looked at me and I grew disappointed. "I told you guys it was impossible."

"I'm sorry Master I felt so sure... Maybe we should leave now with any luck we can still reach it in time..." Shadow said

"It doesn't matter and I told you to call me Luke. You are right we should get moving away from this city. We need to find it as soon as possible." I said in defeat. Harry flew up to me and deposited some yellow fur in my hand. "What's this?" I asked. Harvey began tapping his foot on the ground in Morse code.

"He says he found a trainer and his Pichu and the Pichu felt like you. However he wasn't sure if it was the right group because you said three humans and it only found two humans and a Pokémon so he dismissed the idea of it being like you." Shadow translated. My chest filled with hope.

"No Harry don't you see? This means she's exactly like me!" I told Harry as he did have a tendency for not being able to connect the dots together. "Harry quickly lead me to them!" I ordered as Harry quickly flew away as Shadow and I ran after him. My thoughts turned to my home town once more. It seems after three long years I was finally getting closer to getting back.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I woke up to another argument. Don't these two ever stop?

"We can have a battle in the morning we have to go to the Pokémon centre now so that we defiantly get rooms!" Paula yelled.

"No way! I'm defiantly going to the gym now and you can't stop me!" Billy yelled back. I jumped off his back and gave them a good shock with all my might. I was fed up with all this shouting.

"L-Liz w-why did you s-shock us?" Paula said in shock (literally). I glared at them.

"I'm fed up about you two arguing about everything!" I shouted at them both even though they couldn't understand me they flinched at my harshness.

"Man you guys have one fierce Pokémon their!" A boy said and we all turned and looked at him. He was out of breath from following a small round bird. Who was this guy? Now that I thought about it he looked like- no was- the boy I had bumped into this morning. Why did he look so familiar though? I'm sure I have seen him beyond today. Had I seen him on TV or something? None of the crowd seemed to be going 'oh look it's whoever' so I guess that ruled one option out. He crouched down and looked me in the eyes. "Are you like me little Pichu? Your unusual colour ears and tail certainly seem to suggest it."

"What the heck are you talking about?" I asked in confusion feeling conscious of my brown tipped tail and ears. He seemed really similar.

"What are you doing?" Billy asked the boy. The boy's eyes seemed to turn harsh.

"Do you anything about the Black Eevee?"

"Black Eevee? What are you talking about? Normal shiny Eevees are silvery." Paula said in confusion and I wondered how she knew this.

"Shadow is this them?" the boy's Umbreon can came up to me and sniffed me. Then it slowly nodded with a dark look. Was I the only one who is completely confused about this situation? "Follow me we need to talk somewhere more... Private" He looked at the crowd when he said this leaving Billy, Paula and me to gape after him in confusion.

"What should we do?" Paula whispered watching the boy walk away.

"I don't know. He seems to be a bit random. What does a Black Eevee have to do with us?" Billy asked. I ignored them and followed the boy. He seemed to know something and I really wanted to know who he was.

"Liz wait up!" Billy cried and he ran after me with Paula reluctantly following us. Eventually we reached the Pokémon centre where the boy led us to an empty room. There was a silence as we seemed to measure each other up.

"Okay are you actually going to tell us things?" I snapped at the boy forgetting that I was still a Pichu.

"All in good time." I gaped at the boy unable to believe he had just understood me.

"How did you understand Liz?" Paula asked nervously.

"I think you lot should know all about this sort of thing." He answered and the three of us remained silent. "I bumped into you when I was originally going to leave town. When I saw you had another person with you where is she?" the three of us remained silent and I could tell Billy and Paula were struggling not to look at me. This was tense and I could see what he was implying but I didn't know this guy so staying silent seemed like the best option. No one could have found out unless that day care couple betrayed us.

"Why should we tell you? You're essentially a stranger." Billy said bravely. The boy sighed.

"Look this is going all wrong. This atmosphere is far too tense for all of us. I'll have to take a gamble and assume I'm right." The boy said more to himself then us.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. Then he took off his beanie hat and in the place of human ears there were two black Eevee ears causing me to gape. Then he pulled out a black Eevee tail hidden in his trousers and my mouth fell open even more. I'm pretty sure Billy and Paula had the same facial expressions as I did. "Okay... that was unexpected..."I said not knowing how to fill the silence.

"Liz... he's like you..." Billy whispered to me.

"Yes tell me something I don't know..." I whispered back.

"You should show him... you know that you're the same..." Paula whispered. They turned to me in expectation. Why did they have to crank up the pressure? It's not like it wasn't tense enough already. I closed my eyes and concentrated on everything that made me human. I could feel the boy watching me but I ignored him and focused. Then I felt the familiar change occurring.

**Luke's POV**

I watched the Pichu change from a Pokémon into the girl I had bumped into. My heart swelled up with hope and it was all I could do to stop my tail wagging. There were others like me in the world. Maybe she would have some answers. The curse seemed to be drawing to an end. She stopped glowing and I managed to get a good look at her. She took off her hat and I saw some Pichu ears with brown tips just like when she was a Pokémon. She also pulled out her tail and it too was just like a normal Pichu's but brown where it was meant to be black. She opened her eyes and her brown eyes locked onto my green ones and I thought of my childhood friend again. Why did she keep popping up in my head? I swore I would leave her behind so why was I thinking about her so much especially three years later!

"So..." the girl said rubbing her head awkwardly. I then closed my mouth and smiled slightly realising I was doing exactly the same facial expression the group had been doing a minute ago. "Is it a new fad to be bitten by cursed Pokémon?" she said

"Well I haven't found anyone else and I've been looking for three years." I said simply causing the girl's face to pale.

"So you have been like that for three years?" The girl said horrified.

"Don't worry I'm sure you'll find some kind of cure after all there's three of us looking." The younger girl said patting her on the back.

"My name is Luke." I said not knowing how to comfort her. "I come from Windswept valley." Offering some person information seemed to ease the tension slightly.

"Really? Me to. Small world huh?" the girl said nervously.

"Yer... small world..." there was another uncomfortable silence.

"I'm Billy Derringer. I want to be a powerful trainer without anyone's help!" The boy proclaimed causing me to sweat drop. If he wasn't getting any help why was he travelling with other people who were bound to help him?

"I'm Paula Haring future Pokémon fashion designer and part-time co-ordinator!" The younger girl with purple hair said.

"That leaves me." The girl said "I'm Elizabeth Payne and currently Billy's Pokémon." I froze at her words. It wasn't possible. Yet it was true.

"L-Lizzy?" I asked nervously.

"Yer? Some people do call me Lizzy..." the girl said not knowing what I was thinking.

"No!" I said angrily causing the group to flinch "It's me! Don't you remember? It's Luke Carlson!"

Three years ago...

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" my best friend Elizabeth (or as I called her Lizzy) cried and she held out a golden necklace with a tag on the end. I had turned twelve today and my best friend had given me a present. Even though she was a few months older than me (and a girl) we got on very well. We were currently in our hang out the play area in Windswept Valley where we had first met.

"Lizzy... I told you not to get me anything girly..." I sighed in disappointment as I eyed the necklace in her hand.

"It's not girly though!" Lizzy cried in protest.

"How is a golden necklace not girly?"I asked with an arched eyebrow.

"It's not a necklace it's a lucky amulet!" Lizzy said with a grin.

"And that makes it less girly because?" I asked. Lizzy looked and kicked at the ground.

"It's just that I heard a rumour you were planning to start you journey soon and I wanted to get you something to remember me by. Everyone else has already left and I feel lonely." Lizzy said quietly.

"What you even miss Peter?" I teased causing Lizzy to immediately snap up.

"No way! He can go and die in a ditch!" Lizzy cried and I sweat dropped. How did I make friends with such a violent person?

"Lizzy I told you I just want to be a Pokémon photographer. That means I have to make sure I take a picture of every Pokémon around here before I leave." Little did Lizzy know ii had already taken pictures of every Pokémon in this area it's just when I wanted to leave I always felt like it wasn't the right time. "Besides" I continued "if you that worried why don't you start your journey? That way you'll probably get to see everyone. Even if you don't you get to met lots of new friends."I suggested and Lizzy resumed kicking the ground. I knew she didn't want to start a journey but I didn't know why once I had asked her and even she didn't know. "How about this? I'll tell you when I'm starting my journey that way you can come with me." I placed a hand to my chest to show I was being sincere.

"B-but-" Lizzy said reluctantly.

"Come on Lizzy! You can't stay here forever! I'll defiantly protect you! I promise!" I cried.

"O-okay then..." Lizzy said and a look of determination crossed her face.

"So now I won't need anything girly to remember you by because you'll be with me!" I said in victory.

"No way! I spent a long time searching for a present for you!" Lizzy cried "So take it!" she tried to force the amulet into my hand.

"No way!" I cried and ran away gaining a head start on Lizzy.

"Come back here!" Lizzy cried. I ran through the streets of the town until I could hear her shouts no more. I hide in a nearby alleyway knowing my friend wouldn't give up and I had to stop myself from laughing and giving myself away.

"Eevee." I turned to see a black Eevee with silver tips on its ears and tail just sitting there in the alley. I gasped and edged towards it not wanting to scare it away.

"Hey there. I've never seen a Pokémon like you before." I told it in a soothing voice and when it didn't react I edged closer. I saw it also had silver eyes which was also unique. "If only if I had my camera right now." I muttered to myself. I looked at it now I was in touching distance and it still hadn't reacted. I silently wondered if it had been trained by someone but in this city nearly everyone knew each other and I didn't know anyone with a black Eevee. I reached out my hand and patted it on the head causing it to purr. "Where did you come from then?" I asked it. Suddenly it bit down on my hand and I cried out in pain.

"I finally found you!" I turned to see an out of breath Lizzy standing at the end of the alleyway.

"Lizzy! There was this black Eevee and it just bit me!" I cried cradling my sore hand.

"Black Eevee? What are you talking about? There's nothing there." Lizzy said and I spun and saw the alleyway was now empty.

"But it was just here..." I said in disappointment.

"Come on its time to go back now." Lizzy said and she tried to drag me back to our hang out.

"Lizzy. I'm quite tired I think I'm just going to head home." I said still cradling my hand. Lizzy's face darkened slightly but then she lightened up again.

"Okay then I'll see you tomorrow then!" she said with a smile. "Oh before I forget!" She slipped the amulet over my neck before I could react and ran off.

"Hey Liz I told you I don't want it!" I called after her.

"I'm glad you like it!" She said with a grin waving at me.

"But I don't want this trashy, girly necklace!" I yelled.

"If you dare get rid of it you won't be my friend anymore!" She cried with an equally big smile which caused me to flinch. I sighed.

"You don't have any other friends!" I yelled after her. Lizzy didn't react and continued running back to her home causing me to sigh again. I walked down a couple of streets and eventually reached my house.

"I'm home!" I yelled. When there was no answer I headed to the kitchen and saw a note on the fridge in his mother handwriting. It read '_Darling, your father and I haven't been communicating as well as we have done in the past. So we decided to go on a journey to re kindle to spark that we lost. There is enough money to last you a couple of year and we have some trainer supplies in case you want to start a journey while we're away. Love you lots mum and dad.' _I sighed it was just like my parents to do this kind of things without forewarning. It was probably a ploy to get me to start my journey because they felt like I was too attached to them so it was stopping me leaving. I didn't know what still tied me to this town. I had long since taken pictures of every Pokémon here so there was no reason to stay. I caught sight of the amulet in the mirror and smiled slightly. I thought about grabbing something to eat but suddenly a wave of sickness came over me. I clutched my stomach in pain but as quickly as it came it left. Suddenly my heart began beating slowly and loudly in my head and my vision began to blur. I stumbled up the stairs to my bedroom so that I could lie down in peace. With every step my body seemed to get weaker and my vision more blurred. I collapsed on my bed and fell into a fevered nightmare. In the morning I woke up to someone ringing the doorbell.

"Luke are you home?" I stared out the window and grinned to see Lizzy at the door. Then I caught sight of myself in the mirror and something inside me broke. I had big black Eevee ears and a bushy black Eevee tail. "Luke I'm coming in!" Lizzy yelled from outside. I panicked. I couldn't let my best friend see me like this. I closed my eyes and the next thing I knew I was a black Eevee like the one who had bit me only I was pure black with green eyes and all of my clothes had changed with me but for some reason the amulet had shrunk and was around my neck like a collar. I heard knocking on my door "Luke are you in there?" Lizzy cried from outside and I quickly dived underneath the bed. I saw a giant Lizzy walk around my room. "What you're not home? Where are you then?" Lizzy said and she left the room. I sighed with relief but it was only temporary. I couldn't stay here. I would be experimented on or worse. I couldn't tell anyone I was leaving either. I had to find that black Eevee and to that I would have to break the promise I made to Liz.

**Present day... and Billy's POV**

"Luke Carlson..." Liz said with a frown on her face. "Who are you? I don't remember anyone with that name..."

"I-it can't be..." Luke stuttered "You were my best friend..." he held out his amulet toward Liz who didn't react "Don't you remember?"

"No you must have the wrong person. Sorry." Liz said bluntly and waved at Luke and started walking out the room.

"Where are you going?" I demanded. "You can't just leave!" I shouted.

"I'm going to bed. I'm still tired from all your arguing keeping me awake. See again Luke maybe we can chat or something later. I mean it's not every day I met someone with the same curse as me after all." Liz then left the room and shut the door leaving us gaping after her.

"Why would Liz react like that? If had a curse and found someone like me, I'd be thrilled especially if it was a friend..." I murmured to myself.

"M-maybe Liz is right and you have the wrong person?" Paula suggested nervously.

"No. That is defiantly Lizzy." Luke said with determination. "I just need to get her to remember!"

_**I decided to leave it there partly because it was getting far too long and partially because I ran out of inspiration. I hope I did a good job with your character BloodStarGeneral I didn't know what personality to give Harry so he's currently unable to speak but he doesn't have any scars so it might be physiological and may be cured later on in the story. I hope everyone else enjoyed this chapter as well. There's a lot reviewers coming out of the woodwork so thanks for taking time out to review. **_

_**Sleathclaw Thanks for your OC she can go in the story. I didn't even realised I had miss-spelt Kyra's name (whoops) originally she was going to be named Kara anyway. It's been corrected now and I hope you continue to read Mia isn't that important right now but she may become so later on in the story if I decided she's interesting enough at this rate she will end up being important though simply due to lack of other characters. And yes the different badge designs were intentional but she probably got them from the same gyms. As for Mia having a Gastly she also had it in the battle tournament so she probably started her journey near Lavender Town which would also explain her Sandshrew because of rock tunnel nearby. Maybe Mia started in Lavender then went through rock tunnel battled the Cerulean gym then went to Pewter city? That would make Gastly her first Pokémon even though it was Sandshrew (I really haven't thought her character though...) By the way randomguy do mind if I change your character's name to Gary just because as you've just seen I've already got one named Luke and thanks for worrying about me AbiDel1297 your so nice it just that every so often I have to hand in assignments so I get really busy around that sort of time but right now I have some free time (but not for much longer ) And that my story encourages others to write is really touching (Cries in happiness)**_

_**I'm glad you all like the story enough to take time out to review so thank you all the next chapter will probably be up by Saturday the 17**__**th **__**and if anyone else want to submit an OC please make it in other city besides Saffron because currently there's going to be about 4 Saffron chapters already (including this one) so if anyone else submits an OC for Saffron they will be made into a bad guy and appear in a few chapters. Either that or they will appear when the group goes back to Saffron in a LONG time away.**_


	25. Memories Should be Treasured!

Disclaimer- Pokémon is not mine ain't it a shame?

Memories should be treasured!

**Billy's POV**

"Lizzy wait!"I called after my former friend and she turned and looked at me blankly. "Don't you think that even though I made I mistake" I cringed inwardly at the word because I knew it wasn't a mistake. "That we should talk longer? I mean this isn't you ordinary situation after all." I said desperate for a chance to talk to Liz.

"Look it's been a long day and I'm really tired. Why don't we talk in the morning?" Liz said in a voice which implied she was struggling to remain calm.

"Fine." I said in disappointment. I didn't want to upset her. Liz left me in the corridor then spared me a curious look back then went into her room. I sighed and sat down in the corridor.

"Hey any luck?" Billy asked me I simply sighed in return and looked at the floor.

"Don't worry I sure tomorrow you can straighten things out!" Paula said happily.

"I doubt it..." I replied glumly and looked up when Umbreon sat down besides me.

"Master doesn't feel so down. Maybe she is the wrong person and even though she has the same curse as you she hardly seems compliant." Shadow said and I scratched his head in thought.

"She defiantly is the same person I can't believe I didn't see it before." I said hitting my head against the wall.

"Maybe she has forgotten about you? You haven't seen her for a while right?" Paula questioned.

"While it is true I haven't seen her for three years I've spent about thirteen years of my life with her! You don't forget someone you've spent that much time with!" I said.

"How could she have forgotten then?" Billy asked in confusion.

"That's the question on everyone's mind." I said in defeat.

"Then we'll help you come up with a plan to help you regain Liz's memory!" Billy cried in victory.

"Thanks you guys." I said with a true smile. "Operation return Liz's memory is go!"

**Elizabeth's POV**

I tossed and turned on the bed wondering why I was unable to sleep. My thoughts kept turning to Luke. He looked familiar but I couldn't remember him and judging by the way he had reacted he thought we were close. I turned again on the bed. I thought of everyone I knew in Windswept Valley and the times we had spent together. For some reason the memories were foggy and were making my head hurt. I sat up and pressed a hand to my head and thought clearly of everyone who I had regularly spent time with in Windswept Valley. First was Peter the annoying guy who kept flirting with me. He was so irritating. Then was Mary she was a good friend of mine as well. She was very timid and often hiding behind people I was gutted when she had moved to Hoenn when I was eight. I couldn't remember anyone else. Why did my head hurt so much? I collapsed back onto the bed and fell into many restless nightmares. I woke up to find a note on the door: _Meet me in the cafe outside the Pokémon centre, Luke._ I sighed, today seemed like it was going to be a long day.

**Paula's POV**

Billy and I hid in the bushes watching Luke sitting on a table outside the cafe nervously. Occasionally he would stand up walk around a bit then sit down again or whisper things to Shadow who was also pacing nervously but staying near Luke. Suddenly Liz appeared causing me and Billy to sink lower into the bushes.

"Here's some Tulips your favourite flowers." Luke said with a grin offering the white flowers to her while Liz looked at them with a frown on her face.

"Why the flowers? I thought we were just going to chat?" Liz asked in a suspicious voice but taking the flowers anyway and putting them underneath her seat.

"We are but I thought last night we got off on the wrong foot. So I decided it would be nice if we sat down and have a nice meal to ease the tension." Luke said smiling and I had to restrain myself from giggling. It was my plan for Luke to gradually calm Liz down while showing her how much he knew about her. That would prove that they were friends in the past so that Liz couldn't deny it. I had a funny feeling that Liz might be faking not remembering Luke just because she was mad at him anyway. A waiter approached the table with some food in his hand.

"Here's your order." He put two slices of chocolate cake on the table in front of Luke who was still grinning and a confused Liz.

"We didn't order anything though..." Liz said.

"Don't worry about that I took the liberty of ordering your favourite pudding before you got here." Luke said with a grin.

"First the flowers, then the cake. How did you know?" Liz asked in confusion.

"It's because we were friends once. Come on Lizzy don't you remember?" Luke asked putting his hands on Liz's shoulders. Liz pushed his hands away.

"I thought about it but I really don't remember you." Liz said looking into Luke's eyes. It sounded almost like she was telling the truth.

"How could have I known about the flowers? The cake? What people call you?" Luke said almost shaking her. "How would I know that unless I knew you?" Liz looked around the cafe trying to avoid Luke's eyes. Then she gave a grin.

"Maybe those two idiots hiding in the bushes told you?" Liz said looking directly at us causing us to flinch. How did she know? "Paula!" Liz cried "For future reference pink isn't the best camouflage colour!" my face grew red with embarrassment and I sank lower into the bushes. Billy burst out laughing besides me.

"Shut up! I like pink!" I yelled at him causing him to laugh even more.

"Lizzy I swear they didn't tell me any of this..." Luke said looking at us sadly. The realisation dawned on me that we may have blown his chances with Liz.

"Listen to me Luke." Liz said locking her eyes with his "I'm sorry if you knew me once but I don't remember you now. Besides three years is a long time so even you if did know me I could have changed into a completely different person by now." Liz said bluntly.

"But Lizzy... I knew you for thirteen years... you can't have forgotten all the good times we had..." Luke said with his eyes full of tears.

"Sorry." Liz said staring at Luke before bending down to pick up her flowers and walking away. Luke sat down on the floor with a sigh seeing her leave once again. Billy and I walked up to Luke who looked at us then back down at the floor again while Shadow was lying by his feet.

"What's that?" Billy asked seeing something on Luke's seat. There was a small tissue on it like it had been placed there. Luke picked it up with wonder in his eyes.

"It looks like maybe Liz hasn't completely forgotten about you maybe she still cares deep down." I said with a smile. Luke clenched it in determination and Shadow stood up and looked at him in wonder.

"I'm not giving up this time we're going with Billy's plan!" Luke cried in victory.

"Great this plan was stupid anyway!" Billy yelled.

"Hey it wasn't that bad!" I cried in protest.

"You just watch the master plan in action." Billy said winking at me.

**Billy's POV**

I ran after Luke as he raced to catch up with Liz who was walking like she was deep in thought with the flowers over her shoulder.

"Just watch if we remind Liz of her strongest memories with Luke she's bound to remember him!" I whispered to Paula who sighed.

"If Liz didn't believe Luke knew her even though he knew her likes and dislikes, how will memories help when she doesn't remember?" Paula said with a frown.

"Liz I swear those kids didn't tell me any of that information." Luke said in desperation once more and Liz sighed.

"Why are you so hung up about this you thinking I'm your old friend stuff?" Liz asked not looking at Luke.

"Because you are my old friend" Luke insisted. "I remember one time when you fell off the monkey bars and got so scared you wouldn't go near them for at least a week. And the time when I fell into a river and you dived in without hesitation to rescue me."

"Doesn't really sound like me to do heroics." Liz said looking at the sky.

"You did!" Luke cried in protest "it was near the stream in Windswept valley we used to play their nearly as much as the playground! It was our secret area because otherwise people like our parents would find us!"

"I don't remember any river though." Liz said with a frown and Luke's face grew paler. My plan wasn't working as well as I hoped. Suddenly a couple of drops of rain began to fall from the sky and Luke clenched his fist.

"What about the other people in Windswept Valley. Do you remember them?" Luke said in frustration.

"Sure Mary who moved to Hoenn when I was eight and Peter the annoying flirt who started his journey when I was eleven."

"I see." Luke's fist clenched even more as the rain increased its speed. "So it's just me then." Luke turned and started marching back.

"Hey where are you going? We haven't completed the mission yet!" I said to him.

"I'm going back to my my room I need time alone to think." Luke said darkly with Shadow slaking behind while Liz watched him blankly.

"You're really cruel you know if you're faking this." Paula said to Liz who had a hand on her head. "Don't you have anything to say?" Paula demanded.

"I wonder why." Liz said with a blank look in her eyes "why my head hurts so much" she said putting a hand on her hand "and why I want to stop him." Liz said then she collapsed.

"Liz! Liz! Are you okay?" I ran up to her.

"We have to get her to the hospital in the Pokémon centre quickly!" Paula said with the concern in her eyes quickly replacing the anger. We picked up Liz between us and with some help from Alice carrying her feet got her back to the Pokémon centre. I watched Liz with concern as the Chansey put her on a stretcher and carried her away. She looked like she was in the middle of a nightmare.

**Luke's POV**

I paced around the room in frustration occasionally watching the rain pouring down outside the window.

"Why does she remember them and not me?" I asked my Umbreon who stayed silent and stared at me.

"Master- I-" Shadow started then though better of it and laid down on the floor. "Maybe we should leave this city." Shadow said solemnly causing me to stare at him. "It's not doing your health any good worrying about this girl and-"Realisation dawned on me.

"You know something about this don't you?" I said darkly.

"Master I don't think you want to hear..." Shadow said hestanily

"Tell me." I ordered. Shadow bowed his head and stared at the floor.

"Very well it was about a month after you ran away and found me and my pack in the woods..."

**One month after the events of the last flashback... and Shadow's POV**

"Got you!" I cried as I tackled Luke who was in his Eevee form and he rolled across the floor.

"I wasn't paying attention!" Luke cried in protest.

"Hey you were the one who wanted us to teach you to be stronger!" I said looking him in the eyes.

"Boys you shouldn't argue," a stern powerful voice said and I saw my father an Umbreon staring at us. I wanted to evolve to be an Umbreon just like him which is why I had been named Shadow.

"He started it!" We said in sync causing my father to chuckle. "Come on we'll go back to everyone now." We were lead back to the pack where I saw my five brothers and two sisters play fighting each other while my mother (an Espeon) watched with a warm smile on her face.

"Okay you lot time for bed now!" my mother said seeing that we had all gathered. There were plenty of cries of:

"Awww" and "But Mum!" coming from my family. Luke watched us with a stony expression but a small smile and I looked at him.

"Is there anything wrong?" I asked and he looked at me with a grin.

"Nothing you go ahead I just want to talk to your Dad for a minute." I gave him a strange look and left only to hide in some nearby bushes when Luke wasn't looking.

"Sir, I'm really grateful for all your kindness but-" Luke started.

"You got to leave right?" My Dad said and my heart skipped a beat. Luke was leaving?

"H-how did you know?" Luke stuttered.

"You've been getting that faraway look in your eyes. Do you really have to leave without telling anyone?" My dad asked.

"It's probably better this way I've already spent far too long here anyway I should get moving." Luke said his voice sounded set but he was staring at the floor. My father took in a deep breath of air.

"Do me a favour and take Shadow with you." He said staring at the moon.

"I've already put you through so much. I can't take one of your children as well." Luke said starting into Dad's eyes.

"He's been getting that faraway look in his eyes too. Besides I'd feel a lot better knowing one of my children is going to a kind trainer rather than a stranger I don't know catching them." My dad said staring at the sky. "I think Shadow doesn't want to leave you either." Dad said sighing and happiness crept over me.

"Thank you so much Sir!" Luke said happily. "I'll find Shadow and we'll be gone by tomorrow." Luke's voice darkened slightly "Please tell everyone goodbye for me." My father nodded and we both watched Luke leave.

"How long are you going to keep hiding there Shadow?" My father questioned still staring at the moon and I stiffened. I reluctantly came out of hiding and stared at the floor.

"Hi dad." I said awkwardly. My father didn't react and continued to stare at the moon.

"My, my, haven't you grown? And I didn't realise you had cubs Sebastian." A feminine voice said and we both turned to see a black Eevee like Luke coming out the forest only this one had silver tips on its ears and tail and sparkling silver eyes. I remembered when Luke told me he had been cursed this Pokémon had been the one to do the deed and I grew blind with rage.

"You! Turn Luke back! You've made him really unhappy!" I ran towards the Eevee in an attempt to tackle her and she jumped high into the air and landed straight on my back causing me to be crushed underneath her. "Let me go!" I cried in protest.

"Although it seems the cubs need to be taught some respect." The Eevee said coolly as if she wasn't standing on me.

"I knew it was your handy work as soon as I heard the boy's tale." My father said without emotion. Why wasn't he helping me? "Are you sure it had to come to this?" My father said with regret.

"You know Pokémon like me don't have the right to make decisions anymore." The black Eevee said with a grin although her voice sounded sad.

"Luke where are you?" We all turned at the unfamiliar human girl's voice. I saw a human about Luke's age exploring the forest with tears coming down her face and the black Eevee's face grew dark. "Everyone's worried!"

"Dad by Luke does she mean our Luke?" I questioned but received no answer and was pushed further into the ground by the black Eevee.

"There's my problem that needs to be taken care of." The Eevee said with a sad smile.

"You need my help right?" My dad said staring into her eyes.

"White is not ready for her yet." The black Eevee said staring at the girl.

"What are you talking about? Who's White?" I questioned.

"According to what the boy told me they are very close. She will continue to search unless she forgets." My father said solemnly ignoring me once again. The black Eevee sighed.

"That's what I thought you would say. It will cause complications later on though." The black Eevee said.

"I will make her forget." My father said sternly.

"If she is Luke's friend he'll be upset if she forgets!" I yelled at both of them but they ignored me. My father walked up to the girl who backed off nervously.

"I promise I wasn't going to hurt you or anything I'm just trying to find out where my friend went." The girl spoke quickly. Dad's eyes began to glow in a powerful confuse ray and the girl began to clutch her head in pain.

"Dad don't!" I yelled struggling to escape from the black Eevee who pushed me further down.

"Stop it! I'm trying to find... find... L... why am I here again?" the girl questioned and collapsed on the forest floor. The black Eevee let out a small sigh but whether it was with relief or sadness I could not tell.

"Dad! How could you!" I struggled to break free then found to my surprise that I could stand again and found the black Eevee sniffing at the girl.

"So this is the one he's so interested in. I can't say I see why." She muttered. She then turned to me and her silver eyes locked with my brown ones. "My cursed one cannot know of this." I was ready to protest to confront this Eevee drag her back to Luke and get her to change him back. But when my eyes locked with hers something within me agreed. "He cannot be told until the time is right. Not of this or your meeting with me."

"How will I know when the time is right?" I questioned not wanting her to leave for her to stay and explain everything.

"You will know." She said cryptically and ran off and disappeared into the blackness of the forest.

**Present day and Luke's POV**

"Why didn't you tell of this to me yesterday?" I questioned.

"I wasn't completely sure it was the same girl." Shadow said glumly. "After that there was never the right moment."

"So how do we reverse the memory loss?" I asked eagerly and Shadow looked at me with sadness before sighing.

"That's also part of the reason I didn't tell you. It can't be reversed." Shadow said in sadness. My heart skipped a beat.

"That can't be. You can't just delete thirteen years of a person's life." I stated my voice in disbelief. Shadow didn't answer and looked at me with regret. Suddenly I heard rapid knocking on the door.

"Luke! Luke!" I heard Paula's voice from outside. "Liz collapsed!"

"What?" I cried and I burst open the door to see a worried Paula.

"She just started clutching her head in pain then she collapsed!" Paula said quickly.

"It's a side effect of our presence." Shadow stated causing me to stare at him. "The memories that are locked away are struggling to get out but are unable to do so. We are the cause of her pain." Shadow said locking his eyes with mine.

"There has got to be some way we can help her!" I cried in frustration clenching my fist in frustration.

"There is no way we can help her." Shadow said in defeat. "Try if you want but in the end it will cause her more pain." I looked at my Umbreon then at Paula. The two paths I could take to try and help Liz but cause her pain or leave her knowing she'll be healthy without me. I clenched my teeth in frustration. The important decision could wait until I checked on my friend I decided and I raced after Paula.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I was in some kind of foggy place but I could see the three year old me playing happily in the sandbox. Then a man in a suit came up to me whose face I also couldn't see.

"Lizzy," the words seemed to echo all over the place even though they were obviously spoken by the man in the suit. "You do know that you parents are very busy right?" the three year old me looked up at the man and nodded. Then I resumed playing even though I had obviously lost the fun of it. "Lizzy, they won't be coming back to Windswept Valley you know." The man said. Then he quickly added "but that doesn't mean that they don't still love you. They'll send regular money so that you'll be able to get by and I'll look after you until you get old enough to look after the house by yourself." The man said while I messed around in the sand and nodded at the man who then swiftly left. Once he had gone the three year old me started crying.

"Calm down its okay..." I said to myself who obviously couldn't hear me because she didn't react. I couldn't believe I expected her to because this was obviously a memory or something. I remember when I was older I had a dream of this event and someone came and comforted me who then became my friend. After searching my memory I then realised nobody came and I was left alone. I glumly watched myself cry.

"Hey are you okay?" a familiar voice asked and both me and my three year old self turned at the voice. This didn't happen before, I thought to myself and looked around but I couldn't see the owner of the voice. Where the three year old me was looking there was a bright shining light.

"I'm lonely..." the three year old me managed to choke out.

"If you're lonely then I'll be your friend!" the voice said and the light overwhelmed the fog. Suddenly I was aware of three familiar voices but I kept my eyes closed.

"I feel so bad of making accusations that Lizzy was faking not remembering you." Paula said her voice full of regret. Right I had been fighting with Paula then my head began to hurt and I ended up here, wherever here was.

"It's my fault Liz ended up like this. According to Shadow the forgotten memories where struggling to get out of her head. So she got overwhelmed." Luke said in regret.

"No one can blame you for this." Billy said sadly. I felt something being pressed into my hands and someone moving my fingers to ensure I grabbed it. I heard the sound of someone standing up.

"Where are you going?" I heard Paula asked.

"I just need to think for minute. " I heard Luke say before he left the room. I decided that this was a good time to open my eyes. I couldn't deal with Luke knowing my past when I didn't know him right now.

"Liz your awake!" Paula cried happily and her eyes looked puffy and red. Had she been crying?

"You're okay!"Billy cried in victory. Even his eyes looked quite red. When did everyone get so emotional over me?

"Don't worry you guys I'm fine..." I said patting them on their heads. I looked down at my hand. Inside was a golden amulet which looked like the one Luke had shoved in my face yesterday. I examined it carefully. It didn't look like much just a necklace with a tag on the end. It had some engraved words on the tag so I held it closer to my face and read them. Then my head began to hurt like it was going to explode and I clutched it in pain.

"Liz! What's wrong?" Paula questioned.

"Somebody we need a doctor in here!" Billy yelled to the hallways. Images were flowing into my head images of me playing with somebody else. Me leaning against a wall chatting, playing by a river, on a swing and many other places. Somebody else that I couldn't remember. Who was it? Suddenly Luke's face popped into my mind and all the images were complete. I sat up and looked Billy and Paula in the eyes.

"I need to see Luke now." I said sternly to them. I could remember him and I had to talk to him.

"Liz you just had a major headache I don't think–" Paula started.

"We'll find him for you." Billy said sensing my determination but also worried about me.

"It's faster if we all go." I said staring him the eyes.

"Fine but if you suffer any pain we're going straight back to the hospital and I'll use my Pokémon to keep you there." Billy said in determination. I grinned at him and we all set off looking for Luke in the pouring wind and rain. We searched high and low throughout the city and eventually found Luke leaving Saffron city with Umbreon close on his heels.

"Where do you think you're going?" I demanded in a loud voice causing Luke to turn and regard me with sadness in his eyes.

"There's no point keeping a promise with someone who doesn't remember it especially if it's causing you pain." Luke said solemnly. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"I guess promises don't mean that much to you then." I threw his amulet at him which he skilfully caught.

"Why are you giving me this?" Luke questioned. "Right now it doesn't mean anything to me it's just a piece of trash." Luke said with sadness regarding the amulet in his palm.

"That's a shame." I said with a grin "I spent all my money on that amulet for you and you still don't appreciate it!" I said in mock anger causing Luke to look at me in confusion.

"B-but..." Luke stuttered. "How can you remember that?" I raised my eyebrow at him once more.

"The bonds carried will last a life time. No matter how far I go or how much you fade from my mind I carry with you with me always." I said staring into Luke's eyes.

"You a-actually remember me... remember it..." Luke said his eyes watering slightly.

"What are you talking about?" Paula asked.

"Here" Luke passed Paula his amulet engraved on the tag was _'The bonds carried will last a life time. No matter how far I go or how much you fade from my mind I carry with you with me always.' _Then on the back was _'Lizzy your best friend forever.'_

"You shouldn't have said you didn't like the amulet! You spent three years with it around your neck!" I said with a grin. Luke sniffed and nodded and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "Just one more thing Luke..." I said softly causing Luke to look up at me. Then I slapped Luke across the cheek causing Billy and Paula to gape at me. "How dare you leave me behind?" I shouted crossly. "I even tried to go after you!" I was almost bursting with anger.

"I know Shadow told me..." Luke said weakly cradling his cheek.

"You promised you wouldn't ditch me! " I shouted "And you were my best friend and you thought I wouldn't like you anymore just because you grew ears and a tail?"

"Now that I think about it that was pretty stupid of me..." Luke said looking downwards then he looked at me with determination brimming in his eyes. "I'll make a new vow! I promise I'll protect you and stand by you until we find some kind of cure for this curse!" Luke proclaimed with his fist on his heart. I rolled my eyes some things never change.

"Do what you like. It's a free country." I said walking off causing Billy, Paula and Luke to grin and run after me.

**Meanwhile elsewhere...**

**White Pichu's POV**

I ran through the forest while wind blasted me from every direction and the rain soaked my fur. I didn't slow down despite these conditions and stopped when I reached a cliff edge beyond which I could see the human settlement of Saffron city.

"Aren't you going to show yourself Black?" I questioned the nearby undergrowth.

"Do we always have to go straight to business White?" A feminine voice replied and a black Eevee with silver tips on her tail and ears appeared. We did not know each other's names but we preferred it that way and we referred to each other's main colour. "I mean it's been so long since we had a nice chat."

"You know that I like this as much as you do!" I snapped back.

"Temper, temper." Black tutted "You'll soon go back to work soon enough. That's the way you prefer it right?" I didn't answer and continued staring through the rain at the city. "You should enjoy yourself more White." Black walked in front of my gaze and ran her tail across my face causing me to glare at her and swat it away. "Besides you tend to lose motivation for this sort of thing when you've been doing it as long as I have. You've been doing it for what three- maybe four years?"Black said staring at me.

"Thirteen years. There's a difference." I stated continuing to stare at the city below.

"Whatever, the point is that you tend to get bored after a while so you should enjoy every free moment you have." She said while pacing around me. "And, all of this running around makes my beautiful fur dirty." Black said and she sat down and started grooming herself.

"Why did you choose to do this then? You knew perfectly well what the consequences of your actions would be!" I snapped and looked surprised at the sadness in Black's eyes but then she grinned and it was gone.

"Getting a bit personal aren't we White?" She said standing up again "I could ask the same thing for you. Why did you choose this? What do you have to live for anymore?" Black said and her words echoed around my head like they were taunting me.

"Enough." I snapped locking my golden eyes with her silver ones causing Black to sit down again.

"Always full of justice, you are White." Black sighed and we both turned towards the city and another strong wind blew across our faces. "I guess that this means we have to team up?" Black said in a tone of disappointment. I nodded and we both turned and walked away from the city into the unknown.

**_If anyone was going to submit an Elite 4 member don't because I've made some up now _****_J I was struggling between a chapter named 'Curses and Amulets' or one named 'Memories should be treasured' but went for the second one cause the Amulet only appears near the end. AbiDel and Teraunce your characters seem interesting so they will appear. Kane will make an appearance soon around Viridian but not in it. Sorry for being so cryptic in these notes but it would be rubbish if I spoilt my own story. I think that's the first time it's actually rained in my story I realised that as I was writing it _****_J I got the idea of a confuse ray being able to make people forget off a different story named 'Meloetta and the withering melody' or something like that I would suggest checking it out (it is quite good) but the author hasn't updated in about two months so I don't know if it's still ongoing (probably not though). By the way Liz's parents aren't dead they just left her at Windswept valley virtually alone for plot line reasons. I had to put that because I couldn't help thinking when I was typing it sounded like they had a horrible accident or something. I'm going on the Christmas holiday I'll be back in January sometime after the 10th. Thank you for all your kind reviews again it seems more people are getting into the story which is good because I have a lot of things planned (starts laughing evilly, All your characters are now my pawns!) Ahem anyway can't say a lot now but look forward to it _****_J the next city will have a contest in it as well so if anyone wants their character to be in the contest just say so but there can only be a maximum of seven characters._**


	26. New Tricks, New Rival!

Disclaimer-(emerges from cave sleepily) I don't own Pokémon and the character Gary who belongs to randomguy520 (crawls back into cave)

New Tricks, New Rival!

**Billy's POV**

"Finally time to challenge the gym!" I yelled at the top of my lungs towards the rising sun.

"Shut up some of us are trying to sleep!" Liz, Paula and Luke shouted in unison causing me to sweat drop.

Eventually (at a more appropriate time) we headed off to the gym with me trying to restrain myself from running there. I burst open the doors of the gym. "I demand a gym-"suddenly a giant Pokémon I had never seen before hit the wall right by where we had just entered.

"Aerodactyl get up and use Hyper Beam!" a boy our age with red hair and several freckles shouted, by his side was a fairly big Raichu which reached just past his knee. The giant grey dinosaur*** **Pokémon pushed itself from the wall with a lot of effort then it took flight and fired a series of hyper beam towards its opponent a strong looking Alakazam whose trainer was a lady with long black hair who had her eyes closed and her hand pressed to her forehead.

"Isn't she going to order an attack?" Paula asked in confusion. Suddenly the Alakazam did a very strong protect so strong that the attack headed straight towards us. The attack suddenly disappeared and there was a blue box around the battle field which had not been visible before.

"Hey you kids get off the battle field they're in the middle of a match here!" the referee shouted at us causing us to flinch in fear then hurry to the audience stand with Shadow close behind us. The Alakazam started teleporting around the battle field while the Aerodactyl desperately tried to lock onto its target.

"Aerodactyl use Wing Attack all over the field!" the boy shouted. The Aerodactyl's wings glowed and it blasted wind all over the field so that wherever the Alakazam appeared it would get hit. Suddenly Alakazam appeared on the Aerodactyl's back causing Pokémon and trainer to look at it in horror. Then it fired a powerful Psybeam right on the back and caused the giant Pokémon to plummet to earth. Alakazam teleported away just before it crashed into the ground where it created a small crater from its landing. "Aerodactyl!" the boy cried in horror before gritting his teeth and returning the Pokémon into an Ultra ball. Alakazam merely twirled its spoons as a sign of victory. The boy clenched his fist and his Raichu's cheeks sparked angrily "Your my last hope go Magmar!"He cried and he threw another Ultra ball into the air from which a big flaming Pokémon came out. The woman on the other side still didn't say anything but Alakazam got into a battle stance. "Magmar quickly use Flamethrower!" the boy yelled and Magmar let out a giant stream of fire which covered the battle field. I could almost fell the heat burning off the hairs on my arms from this distance away. When it was over the boy and his Pokémon flinched to see Alakazam looking uninjured and unfazed. Alakazam pointed one of its spoons toward the Magmar and it was lifted into the air with Psychic. "Magmar use Fire Spin to break its focus!" the boy cried in desperation and Magmar was surrounded by a pillar of fire which crashed into the ground. "Now use fire punch!" Magmar came flying out the Fire Spin at a speed I thought wouldn't be possible and headed towards Alakazam. Suddenly the Pokémon Teleported once again and hit Magmar with a powerful Thunder Punch which sent the Pokémon crashing into the wall. Alakazam not wasting a moment used several more Psychics to send it flying it the same wall over and over again until the Magmar had fainted.

"The the challenger Gary has lost all of his Pokémon the gym leader Sabrina won three to nil!" the referee cried.

"He didn't manage to knock out a single one of Sabrina's Pokémon?" Luke said in surprise.

"I guess Mia wasn't lying when she said the gym leader was tough." Paula said in shock. I just sat there with my mouth gaping unable to comprehend what I had just watched. I clenched my fist and grinned, I was really excited about this gym battle now. Sabrina coolly opened her eyes and looked directly up at us. Then her eyes began to glow a mysterious blue colour and I saw Liz being lifted out of my hood into the air also surrounded by a blue light.

"Pic u chu chu!" Liz cried trying to gain her balance in mid air while I and Luke leapt up and attempted to grab her while Paula watched with an open mouth.

"What do you think you're doing?" Luke shouted at Sabrina "put her down now!"

"Interesting..." the woman murmured ignoring Luke and rotating Liz in the air (despite her cries of protest) then she looked at us again. Suddenly the light around Liz vanished and she fell to the ground landing on her head which she sat up and cradled in pain.

"chu pi pi." Liz said in annoyance to us.

"Well if I known she was going to drop you I would have defiantly would have caught you!" Luke cried back.

"Guys encase you've forgotten we have an audience..." Paula whispered at them causing us to turn and look to see the boy (Gary) looking at us in confusion and Sabrina to raise her eyebrow knowingly. Then Sabrina began to walk away despite the confusing scene.

"Hey wait-!" I cried wanting a gym battle.

"Billy Derringer." The woman said seriously causing me to blink in confusion. How did she know my name? "We'll have our match tomorrow. After all what's there today will be there tomorrow." She looked at us once again and gave a small smile. "Well in most cases anyway." She walked out the room leaving me gaping after her and the boy she had been battling to look up at us.

**Luke's POV**

"You want a battle with Sabrina?" Gary yelled up to Billy.

"O-of course! Why else would I come here?" Billy yelled back trying to get his composure back. The boy smirked.

"Forget it. You don't stand a chance." Gary said smiling at us.

"Says the guy who just got thrashed three to nil!" Billy resorted angrily.

"Real mature." Shadow said from besides me lying on the steps.

"I got beaten with the best Pokémon money can buy. If I couldn't win, why would some nobody off the street?" the boy said with a raised eyebrow.

"You brought your Pokémon?" I asked in surprise with an raised eyebrow.

"You'll never bond with them like that." Shadow said standing up with his fur bristling angry that his fellow Pokémon had been sold.

"Of course! I am the son of the president of the Company Umbra. It's a new business that just started a few years ago but it's making big money! "Gary said in enthusiasm. "But it's not very common company name between the poor folk." He said sneering at us.

"I've heard of it." Paula piped up causing everyone to stare at her. "Well when I first joined you guys where do you think I got the money to live in that giant palace?" she questioned causing Billy to rub the back of his head and me to blink in confusion.

"I completely forgot about that..." he said sheepishly.

"You live in a palace?" I and Gary said at the same time in confusion and disbelief.

"Yes! It's because my parents are scientists for the Umbra Company! And on top of that my mother is a model!"Paula said in protest. I whistled in a high note impressed, Paula didn't look like the castle type.

"How on earth did they afford that crazy castle like that?" Liz asked though obviously no understood her.

"How much do they get paid?" I asked while translating and Paula hit me on the arm for being rude. "Okay... just asking..." I said rubbing my arm feeling a bit annoyed at Liz.

"Anyway my father is the president of the company your parents work for." Gary said smugly "That's means you have to do whatever I say and your peasant friends cannot afford the best unlike me." Anger welled up in me and I clenched my fist in frustration.

"Who says she has to work for you?" Billy said in anger. "What makes you so special just because you're scrounging off your dad's fortune?"

"Well I am better than you and all your poor common Pokémon. I can afford anything I want including your loyalties." Gary said with a confident grin.

"Try us." I said in determination.

"I'll give you one million pounds for that oddly coloured Pichu and another million for you to be my slaves." Gary said with a confident grin. Liz's ears perked upwards and her eyes lit up.

"Done deal." She said and attempted to walk towards Gary.

"Oh no you don't." I cried in determination grabbing her then placing her firmly onto Billy's shoulder. "Even if you do get two million Poké you shouldn't sell your dignity!" I scolded causing Liz to frown and cross her arms which just made her look cute as a Pichu.

"Luke's right." Billy said in determination "people can't be brought." He locked eyes with Gary "We defiantly won't be your slaves." Gary glared at us and turned his head.

"Fine I would want some nobodies who problem can't even afford simple things in life, like an SS Anne II ticket to serve me anyway." He said like we were meant to be impressed. Paula let in an excited gasp from behind us and we stared at her in confusion.

"Everyone wants a ticket to the SS Anne II! " She said nearly jumping from excitement. "The waiting list was meant to be about a yearlong!" her eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement no doubt seeing herself abroad this SS Anne II whatever it was. "I wanted tickets for my birthday but by then they had sold out." She said glumly her dreams dying in her eyes. I, Billy and Liz looked at each other shrugged in confusion.

"Who needs stupid tickets to this SS Anna?" Billy cried in determination clenching his fist.

"-SS Anne II"" Paula cut in correcting Billy, her voice had a tone of disappointment.

"Whatever." He said in annoyance. He then turned to Gary. "If you think you're so much better than me why don't you prove it to me in a battle?" Billy challenged.

"That's fine with me." Gary said with a smirk "Just give me a chance to heal my Pokémon and I'll show you how much better they are from your poor ones."

"This can only go badly..." Liz muttered unheard to everyone but me. I nudged her nearly knocking her over off Billy's shoulder due to her small size.

"Cheer up you get to put that arrogant jerk in his place." I muttered careful to not arias suspicion with a small smile. She merely rolled her eyes at this statement.

**Paula's POV**

After Gary had healed his Pokémon I, Luke and Shadow sat in the stands while Billy and Gary stood on opposite sides glaring at each other. The referee (who had appeared saying Sabrina had asked him to come here) stood in the middle staring at both the competitors holding a red and green flag.

"This is a battle between Billy Derringer of Viridian city and Gary of Saffron city" he announced in a loud clear voice. "Each side can use four Pokémon and can substitute their Pokémon." He held both flags into the air "Begin!" He cried.

"Go Scyther!" Gary cried releasing (from an Ultra ball) a huge green bug type Pokémon who had the same confident grin as its trainer. Billy hesitated slightly as if he was weighing up his options.

"Daniel let's do this thing!" he cried releasing what seemed like a tiny Cubone against the Scyther.

"Daniel? Seriously?" I shouted while Luke and Shadow gave me a strange look.

"What's wrong with the Cubone?" he asked in confusion.

"Well he only just hatched not too long ago... and this is his first battle..." I said looking at Daniel with concern biting my lip. This statement was confirmed as the tiny Cubone looked up at the Scyther and burst into ear splitting yells.

"Ouch Billy... made a really bad choice... I know from experience how temperamental baby Pokémon can be..." Luke yelled covering while Shadow whimpered besides him. I gave him a confused look pondering what he just said. I know he didn't get Shadow or Harry as a baby so how could he know? I turned back to the battle field noticing the cries from the battlefield were dying down a bit and saw Liz comforting Daniel.

"Chu pi chu chu..."Liz was patting Daniel on the back as his tears turned into small sniffs. I could barely hear her from the stadium but I noticed this time Luke was the one giving me a strange look.

"Liz is Daniel's mother?" He said sceptically raising an eyebrow. I sighed and nodded and he burst out laughing "that's too funny. I'm sure with his 'mother's' encouragement Daniel will do just fine." Luke said wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes.

"Are you about ready to start now?" An impatient Gary called across to Billy. Billy glanced at Liz and Daniel who both nodded.

"Of course!" he cried and Liz went back to Billy's side.

"I'll take the first move since you took up so much time!" Gary yelled not giving Billy a chance to argue. "Scyther use Slash!" the Scyther flew towards Daniel as speeds so fast it looked like a blur.

"Daniel block it with your club!" Daniel quickly raised his small bone club and managed to catch the Scyther's Scythe (or arm). Scyther's superior strength caused Daniel to slide backwards across the field at the impact but he was unharmed.

"Scyther keep using Slash its strength will give!" Gary ordered and the Scyther slashed repeatedly at Daniel who managed to block each attack but slide backwards slightly at each hit. I could see a small bead of sweat on Daniel's skull. The Scyther slash once more and Daniel collapsed to his knees underneath the pressure. "Slash once more!" Gary ordered and the Scyther raised its scythe slowly sensing victory was near.

"Daniel quickly use Bone Club!" Daniel closed his eyes raised his club and clonked the Scyther on the head causing everyone to blink. The Scyther stood up at its full height a glared down at Daniel who backed off slightly.

"Scyther use False Swipe!" Scyther slashed at Daniel its scythe seemed to completely miss Daniel however despite the fact Daniel was on the floor. For some reason Gary and Scyther were grinning wickedly at Billy and Daniel.

"Daniel use bone club again!" Billy cried in determination. Daniel stood up in determination and immediately collapsed again clutching his side "What?" Billy cried in confusion.

"You really have no clue do you?" Gary said smirking "Scyther it's on its last legs finish it off with Slash!" Scyther raised its scythe again.

"Daniel quickly roll!" Billy cried in panic getting overwhelmed. Daniel rolled as the Scyther slashed using both its scythes at the ground narrowly missing Daniel.

"Scyther use Agility to get ahead of it!" Gary cried getting frustrated. The Scyther (which was already fast) became invisible to the naked eye. It reappeared in front of Daniel. "Finish it now with Slash!"

"Twirl your club around in a circle!" Billy cried and Daniel summoned the last of his strength to form a shield with his club spinning in a circle protecting his body while Scyther slashed at Daniel lying on his back. Unfortunately in Daniel's weakened state he quickly gave in and fainted.

"Billy's Cubone has been knocked out. Gary's Scyther is the winner!" The referee cried.

"Finally." I heard Gary mutter.

"Well that's probably to be expected." I heard Luke sigh besides me. "Daniel is only a baby after all I surprised he held out this long." Billy gritted his teeth and returned Daniel and I wondered what he was thinking.

"Let's do this thing Steve!" he cried releasing his small Eevee who was glaring in determination at the Scyther.

"Scyther use Slash!" Gary cried and the Scyther ran forwards and swooped its scythe toward Steve.

"Jump onto it!" Billy yelled and Steve gave a huge leap just before the Scyther managed to hit it and jumped onto Scyther's scythe. "Now tackle!" Steve ran up the scythe gave a small jump and slammed into the Scyther. The Scyther fell backwards at the force of the slam while Steve landed on all fours.

"Scyther get up and use Vacuum Wave!" the Scyther stood up with ease and began to spin gathering air. It stopped spinning and released the wind by slashing its scythe.

"Dodge with Dig!"Billy yelled Steve quickly burrowed underground avoiding the rush of wind.

"Keep an eye out for it and when it comes up step back and use Slash!" Gary ordered while his Scyther nodded and glared at the field. Suddenly Steve burst out the ground and Scyther stepped back narrowly dodging him and proceed to use Slash attack. To my surprise Billy and Steve just grinned.

"Use bite!" Billy cried and Steve bit hard onto Scyther's scythe. It howled in pain and attempted to shake Steve off but to no avail.

"Just use your other scythe to get it off!" Gary ordered but Scyther was in too much pain to hear him. Gary held up Scyther's Ultra ball "Return now!" Scyther was sucked into the ball leaving Steve to fall harmlessly to the ground. "Go Magmar!" Gary cried releasing his powerful fire type. I could tell this was going to be a tough battle.

**Billy's POV**

I clenched my fist I remember how powerful this Magmar was when facing Sabrina. I looked at Steve who nodded at me in determination, we could do this.

"Steve use Quick Attack!" I yelled and Steve raced towards Magmar.

"Magmar stop it in its tracks with Flamethrower!" Gary yelled and Magmar took in a deep breath and unleashed a powerful flamethrower which sped straight towards Steve.

"Jump to dodge it!" I yelled and Steve somehow managed to dodge the stream of fire. "Keep up with Quick Attack!" I shouted and Steve continued running towards Magmar.

"Use Multiple Flamethrowers to stop it." Gary ordered. The Magmar unleashed several more Flamethrowers across the field while Steve managed to dodge them and slammed into Magma knocking it back slightly.

"Great job!" I said grinning at Steve who grinned back suddenly his whole body set spontaneously aflame causing me to panic "What?" I questioned.

"Guess you don't know about Magmar's ability was flame body or did you think that fire was just for show?" Gary taunted causing me to grit my teeth in frustration. "Magmar while its weak use Fire Punch!" Magmar raced towards Steve its fist on fire.

"Steve quickly use Dig!" I yelled causing Steve to burrow underground. Gary and Magmar grinned cruelly.

"You can't use the same trick twice! Magmar use Overheat!" Gary yelled and Magmar placed one of its hands on the ground and both started to glow red. Soon there was steam coming from the battlefield and I was sweating from the heat. Steve burst of the ground gasping for air and water. I could see he needed some rest. I held up his pokeball and returned him to the safety inside. I pondered my next choice. I hadn't managed to knock out a single one of his Pokémon so far and the only three I had left to choose from who were uninjured were Nicolas, Kyra and Liz. Plus I still had to take on Gary's uninjured Aerodactyl and Raichu both of whom seemed pretty powerful. I clenched my fist and made my decision.

"Nicolas let's do this thing!" I yelled releasing my Nidoran who cried in determination and I saw Liz roll her eyes and Luke snigger.

"Magmar fire punch!" Gary yelled not hesitating and Magmar dashed towards Nicolas with its fist on fire.

"Block it with horn attack!" I yelled and Nicolas started to charge forwards and his horn shone with a brilliant white energy and grew about an inch in length. Nicolas jumped upwards just as Magmar's fist flew downwards and the two collided in an outbreak of fire coming from Magmar's fist. The two stood at equal strength with Nicolas on the ground and Magmar pushing down on him while Nicolas's horn managed to block the fist so that the fire didn't hit Nicolas.

"Nicolas fire Poison Sting!" I yelled and Nicolas opened fire on the Magmar causing it to stumble back in pain and started to glow purple. The Magmar was Poisoned!

"Magmar shake the pain off and go in with another Fire Punch!" Magmar shook its head and charged once more.

"Block it again with Horn Attack!" I yelled wondering why Gary was using the same move twice and I noticed Gary smirking out the corner of my eye.

"Magmar hit it head on with Fire Spin!" Gary ordered and I panicked.

"Quickly jump back Nicolas!" I ordered but I was too late. Nicolas was consumed by a pillar of fire which he couldn't escape from and he cried out in pain. "Nicolas!" I cried in horror. "Use Poison Sting to break free!" a few needles hurdled out of the pillar of fire and flew toward Magmar but they did nothing to ease the flow of fire.

"Burn those needles with Flamethrower." Gary ordered casually as Magmar let out a small stream of fire which burnt the few needles which had managed to break through the fire spin. Magmar glowed purple once again and it winced as the Fire Spin intensified and I heard Nicolas scream in pain once more and I gritted my teeth. "Finish that Nidorans misery with Fire Punch." Gary ordered and Magmar jumped into the flames the heat not even affecting it slightly. I faintly saw the outline of Magmar through the flames heading toward the centre.

"Nicolas use Fury Attack on Magmar!" I yelled; I didn't even know if Nicolas was still standing. There was a series of bangs and explosions inside the Fire Spin and the pillar began to sway and disappear and I saw Nicolas and Magmar glaring at each other face to face with several bruises on them. A much bigger version of Nicolas. He had evolved into a Nidorino and I broke out into a bigger grin.

**Luke's POV**

Nicolas had evolved and to say Billy looked delighted was an understatement.

"Now the duel really starts!" Nicolas yelled to his opponent and I grinned. That Nidorino was defiantly something else.

"You're still going down Shakespeare." Magmar said angrily. How a Pokémon knew about an old English play writer I don't know but he had been calling Nicolas that the whole match.

"I am Sir Nicolas of route 22!" he cried in determination "And you will meet your fall by my horn!" he said stamping on the ground.

"Nicolas use Horn Attack!" Billy cried sensing his Pokémon's determination. Nicolas charged forwards with a considerably more powerful Horn Attack while Magmar glowed purple and Gary clenched his fist.

"Magmar it's still weak from all those attacks hit with Fire Punch!" Gary ordered. Magmar looked quite weak itself but managed to charge forwards with its fist on fire. The two Pokémon both ran towards each other and everyone could see they were going to collide.

"Nicolas quickly jump to the side and use Poison Sting!" Billy ordered quickly and Nicolas jumped to the side avoiding the collision and fired rapidly at Magmar causing it to fall back in pain and quickly faint.

"Gary's Pokémon has fainted each challenger now has three Pokémon left!" the referee cried.

"Grrr..." Gary said in frustration clenching his fist while his Raichu's cheeks crackled.

"Wow I can't believe Nicolas managed to take out that Magmar!" Paula said in amazement.

"Yer... " I said hesitantly "But don't forget Gary still has two healthy Pokémon left and his Scyther while Nicolas and Steve are injured and exhausted. Liz is the only one who hasn't taken any damage." I said grimly. Even from my distance in the stands I could see Nicolas panting lightly. The added strength he got from his evolution was wearing off quickly.

"Nicolas won't be able to last much longer at this rate." Shadow said agreeing with me. "Plus the rest of Gary's team seems powerful" He added.

"Go Aerodactyl!" Gary said releasing the large dinosaur- like Pokémon we had seen when we had entered.

"Nicolas are you okay to go on?" Billy asked his Pokémon.

"Of course Master Billy, a true warrior never surrenders!" He cried back not taking his eyes off Aerodactyl.

"I thought Pokémon were meant to change their personalities when they evolved..." Liz muttered causing Nicolas to glare at her.

"Okay then! Nicolas start this off with horn attack!" Billy cried sensing Nicolas' determination. Nicolas ran forwards once more with his horn glowing.

"Aerodactyl pull back!" Gary ordered and Aerodactyl pulled out of Nicolas' range. "Now use Wing Attack!" Aerodactyl wings glowed and it swooped down close to the ground occasionally knocking up dust on the field and sped towards Nicolas.

"Nicolas jump on Aerodactyl's back!" Billy yelled and Nicolas bent his legs and narrowed his eyes at Aerodactyl in preparation.

"Use Agility to speed up!" Gary yelled and Aerodactyl immediately sped up and slammed into Nicolas causing him to cry in pain and fly backwards. He rolled a few times hitting the field painfully and eventually managed to slide to a stop on his feet.

"I'm not done yet!" he cried and I had to admired his determination. The Aerodactyl stared back at Nicolas with no emotion in its eyes and it clacked its beak eerily in return. It wasn't even talking like it didn't really understand what was being said to it and it cried out in a terrifying screech.

"Nicolas use Poison Sting!" Billy yelled gritting his teeth and Nicolas fired a series of poison stings from his mouth up towards Aerodactyl.

"Evade them!" Gary ordered and the Aerodactyl easily evaded all the needles moving through the air with only the slightest movements of its wings and I wondered how it could support itself without getting tired. "Now fly further up and use Hyper Beam!" Aerodactyl flew up so that it was basically touching the ceiling and fired a fast amount of golden-red energy towards Nicolas.

"Dodge it!" Billy shouted in desperation as the energy was about to hit. There was a huge explosion and a lot of smoke and I was unable to see if Nicolas had dodged. When the smoke had cleared I saw Nicolas barely standing in a crater of a battle field while Aerodactyl stayed near the ceiling. Then I realised something in my head.

"Gary's actually quite smart..." I murmured causing Paula to turn to me in confusion.

"What do you mean?" she asked

"Well most of Nicolas's attacks are land based- they can only hit if the opponent is nearby. By getting his Aerodactyl to fly away in advance means even when Aerodactyl's moves are limited by the power of firing a hyper beam it shouldn't substance too much damage before it can attack again." I explained.

"Plus because Nicolas is weakened his one attack that can hit, Poison Sting, might not do too much damage and can be dodged easily especially at this height." Shadow added even though Paula could not understand him.

"Nicolas use Poison Sting!" Billy yelled as if on cue and Nicolas weakly managed to fire several Poison Stings.

"Dodge it." Gary said in boredom as Aerodactyl merely titled its wings to dodge the oncoming attack.

"Keep it up Nicolas!" Billy encouraged and Nicolas kept firing.

"Just keep dodging until you have enough energy for another attack!" Gary yelled and the Aerodactyl dodged the onslaught of Poison Stings.

"Use Double Kick now!" Billy yelled as Nicolas took a deep breath in and ran forwards.

"Is he crazy?" Paula said in horror "There's no way that's going to hit and Aerodactyl's going to be able to attack soon!" She said in shock. I said silent watching in interest. Nicolas kept charging forwards and leapt (surprisingly high considering his condition) into the air towards Aerodactyl.

"Pull up just in case." Gary said and his Aerodactyl pulled up out of harm's way causing Nicolas to slam onto the ground in pain and Paula and I sighed in disappointment. Aerodactyl was so preoccupied by dodging it forgot it was right by the ceiling which it slammed into. There were also several poison needles left from Nicolas' previous attacks and it cried in pain at having these needles lodged in its wings. "What?" Gary cried in frustration "you stupid Pokémon I didn't tell you to go get damaged by that Nidorino's attacks!" Aerodactyl for the first time showed emotion and it looked pained which was made worse by the fact it started to glow purple "And you've gone and got yourself poisoned." Gary said gritting his teeth "Just perfect" he added sarcastically. "Get that Nidorino out of my sight. Finish it with Fire Fang!" He ordered and Aerodactyl flew once again toward Nicolas.

"Dodge it!" Billy yelled toward Nicolas who was still lying on the ground. Nicolas attempted to stand up but he soon collapsed under his own weight and through exhaustion and Aerodactyl managed to score a clean hit knocking Nidorino out of the battle.

"Billy's Nidorino has been knocked out. Gary's Aerodactyl is the winner! Gary is now winning two Pokémon to one!" The referee cried.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I stared up at the Aerodactyl who was eying me up like I was something to eat. I really hoped Billy didn't send me up against it but being sent up against a Pokémon with sharp scythes or my evolution wasn't much more appealing either. The Raichu by Gary's side who not stop glaring and smirking evilly at me and when no one was looking he pointed at me and drew a line across his neck sticking his tongue out for good measure. I gulped and held my own neck. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant. Why did all the strange people and Pokémon want to bother me? Billy looked down at me with hopeful eyes and I shook my head in fear. He sighed and picked up another Poké ball from his belt.

"Let's try this thing again Steve!" Billy yelled releasing his Eevee who grinned wickedly and seemed to be recovered from his previous ordeal. Then he spontaneously set on fire and cried in pain at the same time Aerodactyl glowed purple and winced.

"It doesn't matter if I'm burnt I'm still gonna thrash you!" Steve called up to the Aerodactyl who titled its head in confusion. It was probably more used to eating Pokémon like Steve then receiving threats from them.

"Aerodactyl make its burn worse with Fire Fang!" Gary ordered and Aerodactyl swooped down with its mouth wide open and I thought for a moment it was going to eat Steve. Then its teeth set on fire with the move which had knocked out Nicolas and I sighed with relief, being knocked out is a lot better than being eaten in my books.

"Steve use Quick Attack to dodge!" Billy ordered and Steve started speeding around the field while Aerodactyl flew behind snapping at him with fire coming from its mouth.

"You can't catch me! You can't catch me!" Steve sang taunting the Aerodactyl causing it to narrow its eyes and double its attempts to no avail.

"Aerodactyl use Wing Attack to blow that Eevee away!" Gary yelled and Aerodactyl's wings began to glow and it flapped them at the ground causing a fierce wind. I grabbed onto Billy's leg to prevent myself from being blown away.

"Steve power through that wind with Tackle!" Billy ordered and Steve started to charge forwards through the wind. It was like watching someone on a tread mill he was running with all his might but not moving forward more than a few centimetres. Steve spontaneously set on fire once again and he cried out in pain causing him to lose focus and fly backwards due to the wind and he crashed painfully into one of the walls. A few minutes later Aerodactyl glowed purple and winced painfully and the wind stopped. Both Pokémon were still standing (well flying in Aerodactyl's case) but looked like they were on their last legs although Aerodactyl looked like it was in better shape overall.

"Aerodactyl finish it off! Swoop down with Wing Attack!"Gary ordered and Aerodactyl wings began to glow and it sped towards Steve.

"Steve charge forwards!" Billy yelled and I blinked at him in confusion. He could at least order an attack. Steve and the Aerodactyl sped toward each other and I had déjà vu****** of the last battle. "Now lie flat!" Billy ordered and Steve dived to the ground and Aerodactyl flew over it. "Now Bite its tail!" Steve quickly leapt up and bit Aerodactyl's tail painfully. Aerodactyl shook its tail rapidly and Steve flew off and landed on Aerodactyl's back.

"Shake it off!" Gary ordered and Aerodactyl started flying around the field spinning while Steve clung on for dear life (how does he do that without thumbs?).

"How do you drive this thing?" I heard Steve yelling. Suddenly he caught fire again and he yelled in pain but managed to stay on Aerodactyl's back. Then Aerodactyl glowed purple and it stopped flying gasping.

"Now use Take Down!" Billy yelled and Steve jumped high into the air and started glowing red then he slammed into Aerodactyl's back causing both of them to plummet to earth. They crashed into the field doubling the size of the crater. When the smoke had cleared both Pokémon had fainted.

"Both Pokémon have been knocked out! Gary now has two Pokémon remaining while Billy has one!" the referee cried. Great. Maybe I'll get luckily and Billy will choose Kyra. In fact he's probably planning to use her now so I'll just leave now. I began to sneak away until Billy grabbed me and put me onto the field.

"No way I'm going to use a Pokémon who doesn't listen to me." He said "I'm sure you can do this anyway."

"Well what happens if I choose not to listen to you?" I asked but Billy either didn't understand the gist of what I was saying or choose to ignore me. Gary picked up Scyther's Ultra Ball then his Raichu held up his hand to stop his trainer and swaggered onto the field.

"You sure about this Raichu?" Gary asked and Raichu grinned wickedly not taking his eyes off mine. Gary gave a matching grin "well go easy on it we don't want this one to end up in hospital like the last time." He said but I sensed poison behind his words. I looked up to Billy in fear I really didn't want to end up in hospital but Billy was too busy glaring at Gary to notice.

"Liz use Thundershock!" Billy yelled and I zapped my opponent who didn't even move. After I had finished he grinned and started cracking his knuckles and neck.

"Thanks for the energy boost its sooo considerate off you." He said with a grin causing the fear inside me to grow.

"Raichu use ThunderPunch!" Raichu's fist started to crackle with electricity and he ran towards me. I jumped to the side and his fist slammed into the ground. Then his other fist began to glow and he swiped me with it but I managed to duck underneath his fist.

"Liz use Sweet Kiss!" I kissed my hands and blew it towards Raichu (not that I wanted to) it turned a small pink heart and hit Raichu on the head causing him to swagger as if he was drunk and his eyes to go cloudy.

"Raichu snap out of it as use Thunderbolt!" Gary ordered and Raichu shook his head and did a power Thunderbolt shocking himself in the process due to his confusion but several bit of electricity still flew toward me.

"Liz try to dodge!" Billy ordered.

"Well what do think I'm going to do...?" I murmured dodging the various sparks.

"Raichu ThunderPunch again!" Gary yelled and Raichu's fist crackled with electricity then he himself in the cheek and I burst out laughing.

"Having fun punching yourself?" I asked him causing him to glare at me and his eyes became clear again. His fist crackled with electricity and he grabbed me with his tail.

"Liz Thundershock get yourself out of there!" Billy cried. I shocked Raichu with all my might but all that happened was the electricity around his fist grew more intense.

"I'm going to enjoy this..." Raichu said before punching me in the gut. I glared at him and he punched me again as the world started to go blurry.

"Gary call Raichu off! That's enough I give up!" I heard Billy cried in worry. I looked at Gary who bit his lip then his eyes hardened.

"Not yet!" Raichu cried in rage "I'm going to teach this Pichu some manners!" he cried before hitting me with another Thunderpunch and the world began to fade to black and I heard my heart beating in my head. I opened my eyes and the world was spinning. Raichu's fist began to crackle with electricity once more and hit me in the head and the world turned black with every heartbeat. I looked at my own fist meekly and saw a small spark of electricity around my arm. My eyes widened slightly and I concentrated all my remaining energy on my fist. My own electricity began to crackle around my fist and it grew in intensity.

"You're finished!" I heard Raichu cry and his fist flew towards me. For once I didn't care about the possibility of fainting or getting injured and glared at Raichu and threw my own fist crackling with electricity towards him.

**Luke's POV**

My eyebrows went up when I saw Liz's fist crackling with electricity. How had she managed to use ThunderPunch without any training? The two Pokémon's fists flew towards each knocking each other in the face. Liz fainted from the impact and I stood up to get a better look in worry.

"Liz!" Billy cried rushing onto to field grabbing Liz. He glared up at Gary "Why didn't you call Raichu off? I told you I gave up!" He demanded.

"I...I..." For a second Gary looked like a lost child then he was glaring at Billy again. "You should be thanking me now your Pichu knows a decent move. That said it's still a weakling." Gary said "Come on Raichu let's go." He said storming across the battle field. He stopped before the exit of the gym and turned to look at us all. "You know you should probably give up battling Sabrina. There no way someone like you can win anyway." He then left with his Raichu strutting behind him. Billy was staring dumbfounded at the door.

"I'll defiantly win you just see!" he yelled and I grinned at his determination.

"It's probably not going to be that easy seeing as he just lost to someone who was weaker then Sabrina" Paula murmured.

"Who knows? It could just be a case of mind over matter..." Shadow said with a small grin.

*** **_**Lets just pretend the Pokémon world had dinosaurs **_

_**** **__**It's basically when you feel like you've seen something before exactly like it. It's like when Dawn was trying to catch a Buneary and they used the same scenes over... and over... again...**_

_**I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays! I defiantly did I found my Pokémon heartgold game! I thought I lost it in France about 2 years ago but then I found it inside a game of magnetic chess (how it got in there I'll never know) don't worry the gym battle will be the next chapter! The stage is nearly completely set for the rest of the story . But for now Billy's earned himself a new rival Nicolas has Evolved and Liz learnt a new move! Nicolas was going to evolve around Vermillion city originally but I changed my mind because I probably wouldn't have been able to fit it in. Pichu's can learn Thunderpunch via breeding but I decided a while ago she would have to learn it because Pichu's have really limited move pools not including the moves it learn via TM(sulks in corner and mutters to self 'why couldn't I carefully consider all Pokémon'). I really didn't like this chapter and I was really unmotivated to write it which is part of the reason it took so long but I decided to go ahead and finish it because I've been doing this one chapter for about 10 days now. Maybe in the future I'll change the chapter but right now there's just something about it that leaves me unsatisfied... maybe I'm just over thinking things and eager to move on to the ideas I have planned... **_

_**If anyone's confused about any characters just check out my profile because when they appear in the story they should be on there (unless I forget) but Paula's rival won't appear in the next contest. Sorry but once you pick where your character first appears you can't change it only I can do that because I tend to plan out ideas for chapters in advance than if you change the location or the character I get all annoyed cause all my evil plans for that character are ruined. I know there's a lot of boring talking going on in this chapter so sorry about that. By the way for future reference Shadow is always outside the pokeball so if he randomly appears without being released it's because he was already there. Sorry this took so long I'll try and make the next update quicker. **_


	27. Mind Over Matter

Disclaimer- Pick a card any card! (Reader withdraws card) oh it's the 'I don't own Pokémon' card too bad!

Mind Over Matter!

**Paula's POV**

We approached the gym again I noticed Billy's look of determination on his face. Although he said he didn't take Gary's words to heart I saw him training outside the Pokémon centre until the early hours of the morning. We approached the gym doors and they glowed blue and opened themselves causing us to blink in surprise. There was a great amount of white light coming from the gym causing us to squint but when our eyes had adjusted we saw Sabrina standing on one side of the battlefield with her eyes close and her arms folded. I silently wondered how long she had been standing there like that waiting for us to come.

"Billy Derringer" she stated opening her violet eyes "I won't go easy on you. Are you prepared?""

"Of course!" Billy cried and Suddenly Liz and two of Billy's Poké balls began to float in the air surrounded by a blue light "Hey! What are you doing?" Billy cried in surprise grabbing Liz and his Poké balls.

"I'd like to battle these three if you don't mind." Sabrina said coolly as if she had not just lifted them into the air.

"I thought I got to choose my own Pokémon!" Billy cried in protest and Luke placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Just leave it you can't really go against a gym leader's rules anyway." He said seriously.

"You would have wanted to use these three anyway." Sabrina said in a voice filled with confidence.

"Fine but don't expect me to be happy about this!" Billy said in exasperation.

"We'll be going to the audience stands now." I said smiling at Billy who merely nodded in reply. I headed towards a random seat in the audience stand followed closely by Luke and Shadow. We sat down and I noticed Luke rummaging through his bag and taking something out. "What's that?" I asked in curiosity.

"It's my camera I forgot it last time so it's probably a good thing that Billy didn't have a gym battle. I want to be the world's best photographer!" Luke said with his eyes shining "Plus it helps me get close and see all the small details of the battle." He added and I pondered his words.

"Surely the best place to get close to the battle is when you're doing the battle yourself" I stated causing him to go quiet and place a hand on his chin like he was thinking.

"This is a three on three Pokémon battle between Billy Derringer and Sabrina. Each can use only three Pokémon only the challenger can make substitutions and the person who knocks out all their opponents Pokémon is the winner!" The referee cried attracting our attention back to the battlefield. "Begin!" he cried. Sabrina's eye began to glow blue once again and a Poké ball from her belt was lifted into the air and released into the powerful Alakazam we had seen Gary battling a few days ago then she closed her eyes and placed two fingers on her head. Billy grabbed one of the Poké balls in his arms and placed the other one on his belt while he placed Liz on the floor by his feet.

"Let's do this thing!" he cried throwing the Poké ball into the air and it released a white light "Steve!" Billy finished as his small Eevee became fully visible. Alakazam's eyes narrowed and its grip tightened on the two spoons it wielded. There was a long pause as neither trainer said anything "well let's start this off with Quick Attack!" Billy yelled as Steve dashed forwards in a white blur. Luke lifted up his camera and began taking pictures as Steve sped toward Alakazam. Suddenly Alakazam disappeared in a Teleport and re-appeared on the other end of the field causing Steve to spin around in amazement and annoyance.

"Sabrina's still not giving any orders." I said in amazement was she really that confident?

"No it not that's she not giving any it's just that she doesn't have to say them out loud." Luke said still peering through his camera.

"What do you mean?" I asked and Luke turned his head and his green eyes met my purple ones.

"Think about it Sabrina just lifted those Poké balls without help from any Pokémon nearby and she probably knows which Pokémon is inside them. It's likely that she can communicate with her Pokémon in her mind. She could even be reading Billy's mind so she knows his next move." He said seriously.

"Isn't that cheating?" I asked in surprise.

"Nope it just that Sabrina's using her natural abilities as a trainer. So that she knows what the opponent is about to do but the opponent doesn't know what she's planning." Luke said lifting up his camera once more.

**Billy's POV**

"Steve use Dig!" I yelled hoping to catch the Alakazam by surprise and Steve quickly burrowed underground. Alakazam pointed one of its spoons at the hole and Steve surrounded in the blue light of the move Psychic came flying out. "Steve!" I shouted in horror. Alakazam straightened its arm and Steve went crashing into the wall. There were a few minutes silence and then I saw Steve emerge from the wall. He was a bit battered but still willing to fight. "Use Bite!" I yelled and Steve ran towards Alakazam with his teeth glowing. Alakazam teleported right in front of Steve and hit him with a powerful ThunderPunch sending my small Eevee flying. Steve landed on his feet and growled in annoyance. I knew the feeling every move we made was countered so easily. I clenched my fist in determination. "Use Quick Attack again!" I cried and Steve charged forwards in a white blur. Alakazam fired a Psybeam at Steve. "Jump!" I yelled and Steve jumped into the air trying to avoid the Psybeam. Suddenly the Psybeam hit Steve while he was in mid air like the Alakazam knew exactly where Steve would jump. Steve rolled backwards from the impact and stood up shakily. I knew he couldn't hold out much longer but we hadn't even touched the Alakazam yet. "Tackle!" I yelled knowing Steve couldn't use Quick Attack in his weakened state. Steve gritted his teeth and charged forwards. The Alakazam Teleported away and I sighed in frustration "Steve when it re-appears use Bite!" I yelled and my Eevee nodded. Then Alakazam re-appeared above Steve's head causing me to gasp in horror. It fired a powerful Psybeam onto Steve and I didn't need the referee to tell me he had fainted. Wordlessly I withdrew Steve gritting my teeth. I glared at the Alakazam who spun its spoons around in victory.

"Liz let's do this thing!" I yelled causing Liz to walk onto the field slowly and reluctantly.

**Liz's POV**

I stared at the Alakazam who peered down at me like it was seeing into my soul. For all I knew it probably was.

"Human-Pokémon" he stated causing me to blink in surprise I hadn't heard him speak before now. Then he pointed his spoons at me and I was flying in the air captured in a Psychic attack.

"Liz Thundershock!" Billy ordered in haste. I zapped the air while Alakazam fired a Psybeam protecting itself against my attack then sent me flying head first into the wall. Which was not fun. I pushed myself from the wall staggered around trying to regain my balance.

"You have to be stronger than this." Alakazam said seriously with his eyes glowing slightly blue. Was it really him speaking or Sabrina talking through him? He Teleported and re-appeared in front of me and sent me flying with a ThunderPunch.

"Liz use your own ThunderPunch!" Billy yelled and I twisted in the air and my fist crackled with electricity and I sped towards Alakazam. Suddenly I stopped in midair surrounded by blue light of Psychic and got sent flying into the wall again the world began to fade to black. I attempted to push myself from to wall but the effort was futile and the world became completely black. I suddenly found myself in a foggy place as I saw an unfamiliar small girl crying over an unknown boy's body "I'm so sorry..." she said while crying. Hadn't I seen this somewhere before? Then it hit me. When I had nearly drowned in the Cerulean gym I had seen these two. Did that mean I was on the point of death again? I couldn't see the girl and boy's faces or features but could somehow tell that they were both young and that the boy was dead. I walked closer to them but found myself trapped by some kind of barrier.

"hello?" I called only to find my call echoed back to me in the fog. The girl didn't react and continued to cry over the boy's body. I sighed and sat down as I watched the girl cry as the world faded to black once more.

**Luke's POV**

"Billy the challenger only has one Pokémon left!" The referee cried as I looked through the lens of the camera with worry as Billy picked up a fainted Liz. She looked almost peaceful in Billy's arms and I snapped a picture before I was fully aware of the motion. Billy placed Liz by his feet and clenched his fist and picked up his last Poké ball from his belt.

"You were right about one thing Sabrina. I did want use this Pokémon anyway." Billy said looking at the Poké ball in his fist. "And just because it's my last Pokémon doesn't mean I'm giving up! Let's do this thing Kyra!" Billy cried throwing his Poké ball into air out of which came an angry looking Kadabra.

"Master Luke that Pokémon is not tame. It would be wise not to aggravate her." Shadow said looking at Kyra.

"All I'm doing is taking pictures. How bad can that be?" I asked lifting the camera to my face. I looked through the lens and noticed Kyra glaring at me then she fired a small Psybeam disintegrating my camera into dust. "My camera!" I cried in horror.

"Master you should be thankful it wasn't your neck." Shadow said causing me to swallow in fear.

"Kyra must be camera shy..." Paula said hesitantly trying to lighten the mood.

"Kyra you can't do that!" Billy cried in annoyance to his Pokémon who then turned to attack him with a Psybeam which Billy narrowly dodged. Kyra then seemed to realise she was on a battlefield and glared at the Alakazam who was looking at her like it was amused. The two Pokémon got into battle stances with Kyra holding her spoon in front of her body while Alakazam held both his spoons equally.

"Ok Kyra let's start this off with Psychic!" Billy cried and Kyra began Teleporting around the field "WHY?" Billy cried in frustration. Alakazam began Teleporting around the field as well matching Kyra move for move. Alakazam Teleported in front of Kyra and its fist crackled with electricity of a ThunderPunch. It swiped at Kyra who ducked and fired a Psybeam at Alakazam who Teleported away and Paula and I gasped.

"That's the closest Billy's been to a hit yet." Paula said in amazement.

"I wished I had my camera..." I said in longing Alakazam re-appeared on the other side of the field its face no longer looked amused.

"Keep it up Kyra! Use Confusion!" Billy yelled but of course he was ignored as Kyra began to fire a series of Psybeams and Alakazam began Teleporting around the field avoiding the Psybeams.

"End this with Psychic!" Sabrina shouted which surprised me after not hearing her voice for so long. I looked at her and her eyes were glowing a dark blue colour rich with psychic power. Alakazam held out its spoons began exerting a power so strong it seemed like it was crushing everything in the room.

"My head hurts..." Paula complained besides me and I knew she felt this pressure as well. Even Shadow a dark type whimpered and scurried under my legs. I saw Billy stumble slightly but keep his stance. Kyra held out her spoon and began exerting a similar pressure doubling the pain in my head. The Alakazam frowned slightly and his whole body began to glow a bright blue colour and the pressure increased once again and I heard ringing in my ears. Kyra collapsed onto one knee and she had a fierce scowl on her face. Her grip tightened on her spoon and she began to glow blue as well though she was still on one knee. Shadow whimpered in pain and the ringing doubled in my head. I could now see strange waves on the battle field like the kind seen on hot days. Only this wave was like a semi circle pushing down on Kyra. Both Kyra's hands went on her spoon and she held towards the wave.

"Come on Kyra you can do it!" Billy cried with his hand on his head. He looked at bit pale and I wondered how he was affected by the pressure. Paula, Shadow and me at least had some distance while Billy and Sabrina were in the thick of it. But while Billy looked like he was about to be sick Sabrina looked like she was even stronger. The Pokémon reflected the looks of their trainer while Alakazam was standing straight Kyra was on both knees and her arms were trembling holding her spoon against the wave. I looked at the wave and the strangest thing happened. I saw Billy's face in the depths of the psychic wave I nudged Paula quickly.

"Did you see that?" I said pointing at the wave. She looked at the wave and then another image appeared of a giant Billy flying through the air with Paula and Liz running close behind him. Kyra then collapsed to both her knees but still kept hold of her spoon with her arms still shaking.

"Our faces?" she said in astonishment. Then the image was of a swimming pool with several floats in it and a Horsea was in the pool. Then it evolved into a Seadra and used Twister and all I could see in the psychic wave was water. "Hang on!" Paula cried "that's what happened in the Cerulean gym! When Billy was battling Misty with her Horsea and it evolved. Billy was using Kyra and she got trapped in a Twister and that's when she evolved into Kadabra" Paula explained "we must be seeing Kyra's memories..."she said in aware. Then another image appeared of a burly man with a ripped up jacket and jeans with a shaven head. He also had many scars on his head and arms along with a fresh cut which was bleeding on his face. Kyra's eyes flicked up at the wave and her face turned pale.

"Kyra! What's wrong?" Billy cried running towards his Pokémon but getting blown back by the psychic energy.

"Who's that?" I asked Paula but she shrugged in reply. The man had a fierce look on his face and in the background I saw many other Abras in a cage. The man ran towards the wave (or Kyra in the past) and raised his fist just as the wave collapsed onto Kyra and she flew backwards from the Psychic energy. Immediately the pain from my head was gone and I noticed Shadow sit up so I knew he wasn't in pain either.

"Kyra!" Billy cried in horror.

"It's over." Sabrina said calmly and her eyes turned back to violet. Billy clenched his fist and returned Kyra to her Poké ball. I walked down the stairs with Paula and Shadow following closely. Paula placed a hand on Billy's shoulder in a comforting gesture while Billy glared at the ground.

"Was that Kyra's past?" Billy asked.

"Yes." Sabrina said simply

"What happened?" Billy asked in wonder.

"I think it will be better if you asked her yourself." Sabrina said with a small smile. "I knew you wouldn't be able to win but I think I opened a bridge between you and that one." She said gesturing to Kyra's Poké ball. She walked toward us and leant over Liz who was still sleeping on the floor. "This one is really interesting. A Pokémon and a human... you're one to as well are you not Luke Carlson?" she said causing me to blink in surprise.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said seriously looking her in the eye as Billy picked Liz up and held her in his arms.

"Of course you don't. So you don't want to know about the others then." She said with a smile not leaving me a chance to protest. She walked towards Paula causing her to blink. "Take care of your first Pokémon Paula. She's lived a very long and hard life." Before Paula had a chance to reply Sabrina walked in front of Billy. "And I believe you want to say something as well..." Sabrina said with raised eyebrows.

"I'll train and defiantly defeat you!" Billy proclaimed.

"No." Sabrina said seriously with all traces of a smile gone.

"What do you mean no? I'm training here until I defeat you and you can't stop me!" Billy cried in determination.

"No I can't stop you but you will not become strong enough to defeat me if you train here. Somewhere deep down you know that. If you travel and defeat the gyms at Vermilion City, Celadon City and Fuchsia city then you will be strong enough to challenge me again. Plus there are other matters that need you to attend to in and around those cities." Sabrina said seriously and Billy clenched his fist in anger. "You all need to grow a lot stronger" she said seriously then she looked at me causing me to blink in surprise then she quickly looked away.

"Fine but when we come here again prepare to lose!" Billy cried causing Sabrina to smile once again.

"I only said you would be strong enough to challenge me again. I didn't say you would win." She said mysteriously.

**Paula's POV**

Sabrina smiled at us kindly as we left it was hard to imagine she was the same viscous psychic she had been in the battle.

"Wait." She called in a normal calm voice "When that one awakes," She said gesturing to Liz sleeping in Billy's arms. "Tell her this. Time is short. The Black Fog is gathering." We stared at her in confusion. "Make sure you tell her..." she said and she disappeared causing us to blink in shock.

"What do you thinks that's all about?" Billy asked.

"I don't know but I don't want to find out." I said shivering slightly.

"um bree um um." Shadow said in a grim voice.

"Shadow's right we may have no choice." Luke said in worry glancing at Liz.

"Whatever it is we'll face it as a team!" Billy cried in determination and I smiled slightly.

"Right." Me and Luke said in sync and we headed out of the gym. The hairs on the back of my neck shivered slightly as I felt Sabrina's glowing blue eyes watching us. I quickly turned around but there was nothing but an empty gym. Though we didn't understand it amongst the group it was clear something big was coming.

_**Hahaha I can't stop picturing Paula dressing up a Vulpix that belongs to Billy :D Billy got pawned and is going to head to other gyms before going back to Saffron. This chapter is a bit boring because I couldn't make it exciting expect near the end due to the power difference so sorry about that. At least you got a glimpse of the future chapters I'm planning near the ending. I may have made Sabrina seem slightly too powerful... I completely forgot about Luke being a photographer last chapter so this chapter he's actually taking some pictures and his camera will magically be repaired maybe I'll have him challenge gyms or do contests every so often as well. You'll just have to wait a few chapters to see what's in the egg Alakazam can learn ThunderPunch via TM :D Gary will defiantly be in the contest :D trainer bubbles I'll accept your character because I think it will be funny :D I'll accept no more Pokémon-humans after that because I think four is just the right amount I can cope with and any more after that is just stupid(how many people can be bitten by cursed Pokémon?)... well I suppose abidel1267's character doesn't really count as a human-Pokémon but still! Because I've got a character called Shadow so to avoid confusion I'm now always going to refer to the black fog/ shadows as the black fog (which it was originally but shadows sounds creepier) well suppose it doesn't really matter what it's called its just meant to be this black hazy stuff... next chapter may take awhile so be patient **_


	28. The Black Fog is Gathering

Disclaimer- WARNING THIS CHAPTER WILL CONTAIN THEMES AND WORDS THAT READERS MAY FIND UPSETTING... not too many but this story was rated teen for reason you know... I don't own Pokémon.

The Black Fog is Gathering

**Question Mark's POV**

I marched down the hallways paying little or no attention to the rooms on either of my sides. Inside the various rooms were people moving almost mechanically which I suppose they were in a sense.

'_Hurry' _I heard a poisonous voice whisper in my head and I doubled in speed so fast I was unsure if it was me in control or it. Occasionally I heard snippets of conversations as I speed past the rooms.

"Police force under control is 33%" I heard one say

"Preparations for operation Black Mansion are almost complete." An different voice say.

"Operation sink or swim is ready to launch in approximately 6 weeks." I heard another voice say. All the voices I heard sounded exactly the same. I ignored the rest of the rooms and went into a lift at the end of the corridor and pressed one of the buttons. In the metallic doors I caught a glimpse of myself my face look tired behind the black mask I was wearing which everyone else was wearing. My dark blue hair shone clearly and my eyes were a bright red like everyone else's in this building. I briefly wondered what colour they had been before I was possessed. _'Do not think of the past...' _the voice said calmly but it felt like an order and I felt all my curiosity and emotions begin to disappear. Who was I again?

"No!" I cried punching the lift in anger realising what was happening. "You need my human side as well do not forget that!" the voice was silent and I realised I had reached the floor I needed to get to my location. I quickly stepped out the lift and was encountered by a mindless droid of a person with eyes as bright red as my own.

"Are you Field operative number 26745 code name Question Mark?" he questioned in a robotic voice. I nodded once knowing speech or sarcasm would be wasted on this person. "Follow me." He said bluntly and he led me down a series of corridors. I notice all the doors in this corridor were locked so I assumed they were all for confidential business. Eventually we reached an unremarkable door which looked exactly like all the other doors in the corridor. "Enter here I shall return to pick you up." The droid person said and I nodded once again walking into the room. When I went into the room two things attracted my attention. One was the sobbing girl in a cage in the corner. That wasn't the really interesting part though because I saw that type of thing every day. What was really interesting was the two people who turned to look at me in curiosity. In _curiosity._ They had some degree of emotions like I did though it was obvious by their red eyes they were also under control of the same voice. We had the dangerousness of being able to make decisions but if we ever turned traitor our personalities and what was left of our memories could be overridden in a matter of seconds. Not that there was many of my memories left anyway. The only memories I had were of the organisation. I straightened out my face so that I showed no emotion and joined my two colleagues (?) giving them both a short nod. We stood there in a line facing a large screen and I began to properly examine the two I was in a room with. The one on the right was a big burly block who was constantly twitching and couldn't keep still. He had a bald head and several scars on his face and arms. Although it is not entirely obvious there were a few red lines across his face from a recent injury of some kind. He wore a black jacket with the sleeves ripped off and ripped up jeans he also had fingerless black leather gloves. There was a tall woman between me and the burly guy. She had blond hair with bright red cheeks and full red lips. She was taller than both me and the burly guy. She wore quite fancy clothes which was quite unusual in this organisation. She was wearing a golden dress with several pearls on a necklace and on her earrings. It was a vast contrast compared to me with my muddy clothes from all my field work. With nothing better to look at I stared at the sobbing girl in the cage out of the corner of my eye. She was fairly young and had dark silver hair with red eyes which bewildered me. If she already had red eyes that meant she was already possessed and possession means no emotions. So why was she crying then? Maybe she was some kind of failed experiment. It had happened before apparently the earliest experiments couldn't control their violence and they wouldn't listen to orders. Most of them didn't survive. Plus the earliest experiments were injected with the chemical that makes up the Black Fog. Now people could just inhale it and they could be possessed. It was a lower success rate of course with the fog possessing 65% of its victims and the injections possessing 80%. But the fog was much more inconspicuous and could cover a wider area plus we didn't have to kidnap people or Pokémon off the street to achieve possession. Suddenly I heard a low buzzing sound throughout the room and my attention was fixed back to the screen in the room. The screen filled with static and for a second I saw glowing red eyes glaring through the static causing me to gulp in nervousness. Those eyes were a burning brighter red then any I had seen so far and I knew they could only belong to one person. The Master. Then the image cleared of static and I saw myself staring at a very pale man with dark red hair and eyes to match wearing an expensive looking suit. The man smiled but it sent shivers up my spine.

"Argonaut, Slystealth and Question Mark." He said addressing us all "How pleased I am that you could all make It." he said and his grin widened.

"Master." we said in respect bowing our heads. To our surprise the man began laughing.

"You shouldn't assume things so quickly." He said with grin. "The Master wishes to preserve his anonymity so all the lower grunts assume that I am the Master." he leaned in closer to the camera. "But I do not wish to play pretend games with you three." This caused us to blink in confusion. We had all assumed this man was the Master. When I first became a top field agent I was appointed the position by this very man.

"So who are you then? And what do you want?" the woman asked bravely.

"Ah Slystealth..." the man replied with a snake like smile. This means the woman was named Slystealth and the burly man was Argonaut. You could never be certain with the organisation. "You of all people know that you can never really know who a person is. Want they want is an even bigger mystery. You may call me Snake after all I am named after what I am." Snake said and I could hear the venom in his voice. He leaned forward again "In fact you're in disguise right now aren't you Slystealth?" he questioned and when Slystealth flinched I looked at her in amazement. I looked at her closely and couldn't spot any sign that she was wearing a disguise and I was standing about a meter away from her.

"What was the point in getting us here then?" Argonaut demanded. "I didn't come here to listen to riddles!" he said in annoyance.

"Indeed you didn't Argonaut. It has come to the Master's attention that one agent number 37721 whose code name is Harvey Sunshine has recently been put into jail for the mistreatment of Pokémon. Of course what he was really doing was expanding the black fog's control onto both wild and trainer's Pokémon." Snake said leering through the screen. "I believe you know more about this incidence do you not Question Mark?" he questioned me.

"Yes I was sent to watch Harvey by you." I confirmed "You thought he had some degree of emotion despite being under the fog's control. You were correct he went mad and the fog took over his body." I said looking around the room. When no one spoke I continued "From the information I have gathered Harvey invited some trainers into the day care against your orders thinking that he could control them and their Pokémon no doubt looking for a promotion." I said causing Argonaut to scoff. "The trainers of course found out about the operation and managed to knock out Harvey despite the precautions against trainers in place. Without Harvey the fog had no pinpoint of where to go and so was forced to disperse the area. I only had the opportunity to make sure had was arrested by officers controlled by us. If you wish it he can return to operation." I said while Snake pursed his lips.

"No Harvey is a compete liability. If he has emotion that means he has memory and if he has memory that makes him dangerous to the organisation. I will arrange an agent to dispose of him." Snake said with finality. Then he looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Is there more you wish to say?" causing me to look up at him in surprise. I cleared my throat.

"It's just that before Harvey was taken away his Pokémon a Chatot was still loyal enough to us to convey a message." Everyone looked at me in interest and I swallowed. "Human-Pokémon" I said with a clear voice.

"What does that mean?" Slystealth almost whispered.

"I have recently been doing various investigations but I cannot uncover anything of importance. But its obvious Chatot thought this 'Human-Pokémon' might be some kind of threat and had something to do with the loss of control of the day care." I said causing Snake to sigh.

"It matters not. If this treat appears again we will dispose of it." Snake said calmly "Right now I need you all to be involved in the missions. I do not want to lose another operation base especially when our goals are so near. That's why I want you three, our top agents, to be at our major operation bases. These bases will ensure both humans and Pokémon will fall under our control on massive scales. Question Mark you need to be at our upcoming mission code named 'sink or swim' which shall be activated in six weeks by this." A beam of light shone down on the girl in the cage. With everything that had happened I had forgotten about her. "This" Snake said with venom in his voice "is a girl we captured by the coast. Her name is Aurora." The girl winced at the sharp light being beamed down onto her. "And this is her brother Adolfo" the ceiling opened up and a small black fox like Pokémon came down in a cage and I stared at Snake like he was mad. "Aurora and Adolfo are two species of a rare Pokémon named 'Zorua' these Pokémon along with their evolution have the ability to create illusions." Snake explained causing my eyes to widen in surprise. The girl was a Pokémon? It seemed just like what we had been talking about. "They were escaping from Unova were they were hunted because they were rare when our organisation found them and their father. Unfortunately their wills are too strong to be controlled by the black fog and their father had an unfortunate 'accident'. But I found a much simpler way of controlling them." Snake sneered at the caged children causing the girl to stand up angrily.

"You killed our father you bastard!" a new angry voice shouted and I realised it was the girl I didn't know she could hear us. Snake clicked his fingers and suddenly Aurora screeched in pain clutching something around her neck and she was glowing with electricity.

"Zorua!" the Pokémon in the cage cried with horror as his sister was overcome with pain.

"You will obey us unless you want the same thing that happened to your father happening to your only family member left." Snake said and the electricity around the girl stopped and she collapsed to the floor. "The girl will activate the program releasing the fog in operation 'sink or swim' in six weeks. If she gets discovered she can just turn into a Pokémon after all nobody will suspect a Pokémon. But Question Mark I need you to go with her just to make sure the plan runs without a hitch." I nodded and Snake turned to Argonaut and Slystealth.

"Argonaut I need you to be at operation 'Speed' to make sure everyone and everything is under control." Snake said

"Of course." Argonaut said with a wicked grin cracking his knuckles.

"Slystealth you will be at operation 'Jungle' I need someone who's good at disguises to run this operation." Slystealth merely smiled and nodded.

"If for any reason the bases shut down and you fail in your operation you must all gather at operation 'black Mansion' it is vital to our organisation that this base doesn't shut down." Snake said seriously and we nodded. Snake smiled "Soon the world will be aware of our presence and they will cower before us!" he cried clenching his fist with his eyes glowing red.

_**So we get the first look at the evil fog organisation and the bad guys are formally introduced. Question Mark is ? from a few chapters ago, Argonaut who was named after that bad guy with a hammer (I think he had a hammer anyway) and Slystealth who was named with a random name generator... Snake is named after the animal and the fact I couldn't help thinking about snakes when I wrote about him. So the bad guys obviously have some operations planned and the next one's happening soon. Plus they've kidnapped Aurora who is a Pokémon really but can turn into a human for their next operation. They also got her Pokémon/ brother so that she has to listen to them least they get killed like their father did. Obviously the normal group has no knowledge of these events and will continue as normal in the next chapter. You may have noticed I've been doing a lot of editing recently so that POV changes are in bold, typos that I have noticed have been fixed and a couple of chapters have extra dialog or detail in them. Hopefully it will make my story all the better for the amount of work I did.**_

_**As of OCs unfortunately Red can't be encountered on the way to the city because... well I don't really have a reason I just want to have him and Bubbles introduced after the next city. He can still appear in the story though. But I don't think Gary is a pointless character either maybe just a bit rushed because I didn't really plan him out properly **_

_**I suppose it doesn't really matter if I change the last gym leader into an OC though if you really want to have a member of the elite 4 though I'm willing to sacrifice one member but you can only have your member as a Ice, Dragon, Bug or ground type, they must be male and you have to tell me your character before the next chapter. It might be more personal character to you if you create a gym leader though because then you can create whoever you want. Giovanni wasn't going to be the last leader anyway it was going to be Blue or Green or whatever his name is... **_

_**On a side note for the purpose of this story chapters normally have an unmentioned amount of time pass between each chapter. This time each chapter is one week passing until the next arc. Just saying :)**_


	29. Ace up your Sleeve!

Disclaimer- I don't own Pokémon and I forgot to mention last time that Aurora and Adolfo belong to abidel1269

Ace up your sleeve!

**Billy's POV**

"This is taking forever." I complained as Liz, Luke, Shadow and I stood in the lobby of the Pokémon centre waiting for Paula.

"Why don't you entertain yourself then?" Liz asked then she grabbed a nearby T.V remote. "Here watch something on T.V." She said passing the remote to me. I sat down on a comfy chair and flicked through the channels until I found something that caught my eye. The re-opening of the Pokémon league was on the news I settled down and turned up the volume. A woman appeared holding a microphone in a new station.

"On the news today to celebrate the opening of the newly refurbished league the Elite 4 and the champion came personally to open it up to trainers and Pokémon alike. The reopening of the Pokémon league was funded and sponsored by the Umbra Company. However there was extreme shock when the champion decided to in his words 'kidnap' himself. We will now replay the events that occurred on national television" the woman said and the scene cut to one of a big crowd screaming and the camera cut to five people walking down roped area towards the stage, behind which was the Pokémon league with a ribbon between two trees in a path leading up to the league. Then the camera showed the youngest of the group with pale skin, strange grey hair who was wearing a dark jumper with a yellow scarf and black trousers. The man was looking around the crowds with an eager grin and an occasional wave.

"Here we can see Collin Richardson the youngest and first member of the Elite 4 who specialises in Dark types. He is known as the Joker of the Elite 4." A different reporter that was at the scene said. The camera then cut to an elderly man wearing several metal bracelets and a silver coat who was glaring at most of the crowd and using a metal stick to support his movements. "Walking right besides Collin is the elderly Basil Priya but don't be fooled by his looks. He is the second member of the Elite 4 who specialises in Steel types. He is known as the Jack of the Elite 4." Then the camera cut to a woman wearing a white scarf which looked like it was made out of feathers wearing very light business like clothing with straight black hair. The woman was smiling softly at the crowd but kept her eyes on the man leading. "Then we have the third member and only female in the Elite 4. She is known as the Queen who specialises in Flying types Joanna Trollope." Then the camera cut to another man with strange green hair wearing a leather jacket with a tank top and leather boots. "There is the King and the last member of the Elite 4 Allan Robinson who specialises in Dragon types!" By now the group had almost reached the stage as the camera focused on the last man with bright red hair wearing goggles around his neck and a cocky grin on his face. "Here we see the champion and Ace of the Elite 4 who uses various types. The most famous Ace Deck!" the group reached the stage and the crowds cheers got louder. Ace Deck walked up to the podium and grinned more causing lots more cheering and some of the crowd screaming their love at him.

"This is a monumental occasion." Ace said in smooth voice and the crowd's cheering intensified. "The opening of the refurbished league will signify a new start in the ultimate bonds between trainers and Pokémon." Ace picked up the microphone and paced around the stage. "My thanks go to the Umbra Company without their funding this project would not be successful. I also thank the countless people and Pokémon that helped to build this magnificent building." Ace said gesturing to the stage behind him. The crowd started cheering once again and Ace grinned. "To celebrate the re-opening" Ace continued "I herby kidnap myself" everyone turned to face Ace in surprise "And no-one can stop me!" Ace finished "Flygon go!" he cried releasing a huge green dragon Pokémon which caused the stage to creak softly. Ace snapped his goggles over his eyes ran and jumped onto its back.

"You're not abandoning us so easily!" Joanna cried "Go Pidgeot, Skarmory, Altaria, Emolga and Crobat!" All five of her flying types came out of their Poké balls.

"Yer!" Collin cried "you can't leave me with these idiots! Go Zoroark, Absol, Houndoom, Mandibuzz and Bisharp!" out came his dark type Pokémon came out of their Poké balls growling menacingly.

"I resent being called an idiot." Basil said glaring at Collin "Go Steelix, Klinklang, Aggron, Mawile and Metagross" Basil cried releasing his steel type Pokémon which were attached to his walking stick.

"Don't leave me out!" Allan cried "Go Druddigon, Salamence, Garchomp, Hydreigon and Dragonite!" Allan cried releasing his dragon types.

"Geez all these Pokémon for one person." Ace said looking at them with raised eyebrows "Something has got to give." As soon as he said this, the stage beneath their feet collapsed in a pile of wood and wires. Ace and his Flygon flew up into the air while the rest of the Elite 4 were stuck in the rubble with their Pokémon that hadn't been trapped staring at them. Suddenly the screen went black and I turned around with annoyance.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" I yelled and saw Liz, Luke and Paula all staring at me.

"We're ready to leave now unless you want to watch TV all day?" Luke questioned with raised eyebrows.

"I vote for watching TV all day." Liz said from besides him lifting her arm slightly.

"bree." Shadow scoffed besides her earning him a glare from Liz.

"So I spent all this time getting ready for nothing?" Paula said in slight disappointment.

"No way!" I cried in protest "We're leaving!" I said standing up in determination. I marched out of the Pokémon Centre with the group following me.

**Luke's POV**

We had been walking down the road for a few hours now. It was a fairly cool day so we didn't need to stop too often. Shadow walked besides me close to my heels.

"This is soo boring..." Billy complained as we walked down the road.

"It would go a lot faster if you stopped complaining." Lizzy said walking besides him.

"I wish something exciting would happen." He said drooping slightly.

"Be careful what you wish for..." Shadow said ominously.

"What's that?" Paula asked looking up. I looked up to see a giant black shape become visible through the clouds in the sky.

"Whatever it is it looks like its crashing!" Billy cried in alarm as the black shape speed towards the ground far too quickly. Moments later the black shape crashed loudly nearby."Come on let's check it out!" Billy cried in a combination of excitement and worry before running off. I chased after him with Paula and Lizzy following close behind. Eventually we reached the area where the black shape had crashed and it was an utter wreck. There was a bigger than average Flygon in the middle of a crater coiled around something and there were several small fires in the crater.

"Alice put out these fires!" Paula cried releasing an elderly Wartortle who fired several Water Guns putting the fires out with ease. We approached the Flygon with caution who growled softly at our approach but was too weak do to anything else. We gasped as we saw a man in his early twenties with bright red hair and goggles on his face which was covered in soot. The man was unconscious and had injuries on his arms, hands and head.

"We've got to help this man!" Alice cried snapping us out of our shock.

"Come on we've got to get him somewhere safe." I said approaching the man and the Flygon tried to bite me causing me to draw my hand away.

"The Pokémon centre is too far away." Liz said with a blank look ignoring Flygon's attempt's to bite her. "We're trying to help him you know." She said to the Flygon crossly causing it to stop growling in surprise. I quickly looped myself around the man's other arm.

"What about the Flygon we can't just leave it here and it can't move very well!" Billy cried with worry.

"Can't we just put it in its Poké ball?" Paula asked and I looked around the man's waist picking off the Poké balls causing the Flygon to growl again.

"Sorry this is just a matter of convenience." I explained temporarily setting the man down again.

"If any harm comes to my trainer you will experience a thousand deaths each more painful than the last." The Flygon replied in a husky voice causing me to swallow in fear. I picked up a random Poké ball and pointed at the Flygon. The Poké ball opened with a burst of white light and out came a powerful looking Blaziken who upon seeing the heavily injured Flygon and its fainted trainer caused its fists to set alight. I quickly returned it to its Poké ball before all hell broke loose. I picked up another random Poké ball and sighed with relief when Flygon returned in a red beam.

"Here hold these." I said handing the Poké balls to Paula while she picked up the man's bag and started picking up the man again while Billy picked up the man's feet.

"How will we find shelter?" Paula asked as Liz, Billy and I picked up the man.

"First things first we need to clean out the man's wounds." Liz said calmly.

"I can help find water easily." Alice said in smooth voice. "It's just a matter of listening out for it."

"If that's the case I can help too." Shadow said with ease.

"Thanks you guys but we need to find it as quickly as possible." I said picking up a Poké ball from my belt "Go Harry!" in a burst of white light my Hoothoot appeared looking slightly unhappy to be called out in the middle of the day.

"Harry can you help us find a nearby water source?" I questioned. Harry looked at the man and nodded before flying away.

"Come on you guys listen out for water from the ground." I told Shadow and Alice who both nodded. We picked up the man and set off following our Pokémon.

**Elizabeth's POV**

We had been walking for about an hour now but it felt like eternity while carrying a fully grown man.

"I can hear water running ahead." Alice said eventually with her ears twitching.

"Really?" I gasped and shifted the man's weight slightly.

"I can hear it too." Shadow confirmed just as Harry reappeared through the trees.

"Let's go then." Luke said and we redoubled our efforts until we got to a small river. We laid the man on the ground. "See if you can find us some shelter." Luke told Harry who nodded and flew away once more. Billy stared after the Hoothoot

"I'd better go looked too. That guy looks in bad shape." Billy cried running into the forest. I snapped the man's goggles around his neck and pressed a hand to the man's forehead and quickly drew away feeling his temperature. I noticed his breathing was shallow and raspy. I got out a damp cloth and pressed it to the man's forehead and noticed Paula gawking at me.

"What?" I questioned glaring at her.

"I can't believe you're actually being responsible for once." She said staring at me in disbelief causing Luke to look at the two of us.

"Shut up..." I muttered quietly and started staring at the ground. We took turns looking after the man for the next few hours while the man himself tossed and turned in a fever of some kind. Eventually Billy burst through the trees with Harry on his head gasping for breath.

"What happened to you?" Paula questioned with her hands on her hips.

"Nothing it's just I found a cave and I was so I excited so I ran all the way back here!" Billy replied with a grin causing us all to sigh.

"Come on then we'll carry him to the cave and you and Harry can lead us there." Luke said sounding tired. We picked up the man once more and started following Billy. After a few minutes of silence Billy spoke up once more,

"You know you guys I think I've seen that guy before..." He said hesitantly looking at the man we were carrying.

"Yer... like you know a guy that fell out of the sky on a Flygon." Paula scoffed.

"No I'm serious!" Billy objected "I've been thinking about it for a while now but I just can't put my finger on it..." Harry decided at that point to begin pecking Luke's head.

"Owowow!" Luke cried in protest "What's wrong Harry?" He yelled covered his head.

"He says we're near the cave now." Shadow said translating Harry's taps.

"We're nearly there now." Luke translated for Billy's and Paula's benefit. "We'd better follow Harry it seems to be getting dark," Luke added as an afterthought. I heard the man groaned and pressed a hand to his forehead. His temperature seemed to have skyrocketed

"This one's not doing so well either." I added.

"We'd better hurry then." Billy said stating the obvious and we ran the rest of the way to the cave. We laid him down once more and made a small fire.

"We better take shifts looking after him through the night." Paula said glancing at the man who was thrashing around in his sleep and moaning now.

"The Pokémon..." he moaned "Flygon... sparks...falling... darkness..." he moaned before going quiet again and there was silence in the cave as we stared at him.

"We'll draw sticks for the night shift." Luke said eventually. "Whoever gets the short stick goes first." He said picking up some nearby twigs and clutching them in his fist so we couldn't see their length. We all grabbed a stick and pulled. I glanced around at the group's sticks and looked at mine and sighed. Wouldn't you just know I got the shortest? I sat down next to the man and pulled a blanket over myself while watching the fire crackle and burn and the group climbed into sleeping bags and Shadow curled up by Luke. There was silence in the cave as the minutes dragged by. I felt a hand on my shoulder and spun around then relaxed when I saw Luke.

"You scared me." I said with a small smile. "I didn't hear you get up." I said shivering slightly pulling my blanket further over me.

"Yer... I was being quiet cause Billy and Paula are asleep..." Luke said with a smile of his own and he sat next to me.

"You're meant to be asleep as well you know." I said nudging him slightly causing him to grin. There was silence in the cave once more as the fire crackled and the man thrashed in his sleep.

"What did Paula mean before?" Luke questioned eventually causing me to turn and look at him. "About you not being responsible? I know you and I know you care more about people than anyone else..." Luke said staring into the fire holding the tag around his amulet.

"Have you caught a fever as well?" I questioned putting my hand to his forehead. "I've never been that bothered about anyone." I said with a shrug. "Besides you..." I added as an afterthought.

"It's just that you always seemed to help everyone no matter what. You always moaned about it sure... but you always helped..." Luke said still staring into the fire still fiddling with his amulet slightly.

"Don't be stupid." I said with a grin "Half the time I'm just in the right place at the right time."

"Why did you follow Billy around then?" Luke questioned meeting my eyes letting the amulet fall to his cheat. "You're smart you could have released yourself and walked away if you wanted to." He asked.

"Just felt like it." I said with a shrug staring at the fire. "Plus it was a matter of convenience..." I added. "How on earth did you not get caught in three years?" I asked changing the subject. "I got caught on my first day." I added with a sulk causing Luke to laugh loudly then to look nervously around the cave to see if he had woke anyone up.

"I caught myself" Luke said with a grin lifting up a Poké ball from his belt "This is my Poké ball and it belongs to me." he said showing off his Poké ball the firelight.

"That's cheating!" I cried in jealousy causing Luke to chuckle again.

"I know you're just annoyed because you didn't think of it." Luke teased and he sighed slightly "Do you ever wonder if the Pokémon that bit us planned it?" Luke asked holding his amulet once more causing silence in the cave again.

"No one can predict the future." I eventually answered "if they did plan it they couldn't have possibly known whether we'd go along with their plans. I could have stayed at home if my door was open and got myself breakfast... then I would have been too late to meet Billy in the woods, if I had gone outside, and never would have gone on this journey..." I said with a small sigh "But there are a few good things that came out of this. I got to see you again." I began listing off on my fingers.

"You didn't even remember me!" Luke interrupted in protest causing me to glare at him.

"I seen some amazing things, and met countless people. Plus there's a lot more to come! Most of its bad though..." I joked with a small smile causing Luke to smile as well. I yawned slightly and Luke stared at me.

"Why don't you go to bed I'll look after the man." Luke offered causing me to stare at him.

"You should be in bed yourself!" I said with realisation causing Luke to shrug.

"Can't sleep..." he said facing the fire once again.

"Okay then..." I said hesitantly throwing my blanket over him. "Don't overdo it okay?" I said climbing into my sleeping bag.

"Of course not." Luke said with a smile and I drifted off to sleep.

**Billy's POV**

"Billy..." I heard someone say shaking my shoulder and I groaned.

"Go away..."I complained moving in my sleeping bag.

"Billy it's your turn to look after the man..." I heard Luke say still shaking my shoulder.

"Okay... okay I'm up..." I said sleepily dragging myself out of my nice warm sleeping bag while Luke climbed into his. I sat down next to the fire and stared at the man. He looked exactly the same as before if not worse. No matter what Paula said he defiantly looked familiar. What was it? I tried to think clearly but my mind kept drifting off from lack of sleep. I kept my eyes locked onto his goggles they set off a light bulb in my mind but I couldn't think why. What was it they reminded me of?

"OF COURSE IT'S ACE DECK!" I yelled loudly causing my voice to echo throughout the cave waking up my friends, Shadow and Ace with a jolt.

"Who are you?" Ace demanded glaring at me while panting slightly with his face pale and covered in sweat.

"Who's Ace Deck?" Paula asked sleepily sitting up.

"And why did you wake us up?" Liz demanded also glaring at me.

"Just when I got to sleep..." Luke added rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Umbreon," Shadow said grumpily growling slightly.

"Where on earth is this place?" Ace demanded gaining all of our attention.

"Oh... he's awake..."Liz remarked sounding unimpressed.

"Of course I am!" Ace shouted then his eyes widened in realisation "Where are my Pokémon?" He cried feeling around his waist spinning around in circles nearly falling down. "You've stolen them!" He cried in frustration and panic pointing at us with on hand using his other hand to support himself on the cave wall.

"Yep that's exactly why you're not tied down and we didn't run off during the night leaving you for dead." Liz remarked rolling her eyes slightly. I elbowed her in the ribs.

"Sorry about her Mr. Deck she's just grumpy cause I woke her up." I said quickly gaining me a few looks.

"Mr. Deck?" Luke and Paula questioned in disbelief of my manners.

"You know me?" Ace questioned then he sighed "I thought I got away from all my fans when I flew away on Flygon..." he said massaging his head slightly.

"I recognise you from the news..." I said hesitantly sensing I had said the wrong thing.

"We didn't steal your Pokémon honestly they're all here..." Paula said handing Ace his Poké balls back and a look of relief passed over his face and he collapsed to the cave floor.

"Are you okay?" Luke questioned feeling his forehead "You're still burning up!" he cried in surprise.

"I was attacked..." Ace said gasping for breath "Flygon and I passed through a colony of flying Pokémon... they thought we invaded their territory... they attacked us and chased us for many miles..." he gasped with his eyes going in and out of focus.

"You've got to try to focus!" I cried in worry. "Take some water!" I cried handing Ace a water bottle and he drained most of the bottle and his eyes fluttered shut.

"Umbre..." Shadow said sniffing at the man and Luke and Liz turned pale.

"Can't we do anything to help?" Luke asked his Pokémon.

"Um bree umeon..." Shadow said with a frown and I wished I could understand him.

"I don't want to lose you as well Shadow!" Luke cried with his fist clenched causing Shadow to growl in reply and Luke widened his eyes.

"What's going on?" Paula asked with worry.

"Ace... he's slipping away he could die..." Liz said with a pale face.

"No way!" Paula and I cried in horror.

"There is one thing we could try but it's very risky..." Luke said glancing at Ace and his Pokémon with worry "Are you sure you want to do this Shadow?" He asked his Umbreon who nodded with determination. Shadow walked up to Ace and placed a paw on Ace's forehead and his yellow rings started to glow.

"What's he doing?" Paula asked.

"Moonlight it's a move used for healing a Pokémon's wounds." Luke said with a pale face. "The only problem is that Ace isn't a Pokémon and we haven't mastered the move yet..." as soon as Luke said that Shadow winced and a deep cut appeared on his arm in the exact place Ace had a cut. "Shadow!" Luke cried in horror. Shadow only gritted his teeth and the yellow rings around his body began glowing brighter. Ace started to gain some colour back in his cheeks while Shadow looked like he was struggling to stay upright. "Shadow...that's enough... you can stop now!"Luke cried with worry as Shadow continued to heal Ace even though he was clearly looking a lot better. Shadow looked worse and worse with every passing moment though and new injuries kept appearing on his body. "I'm sorry..." Luke said gritting his teeth "return Shadow!" Luke cried returning Shadow to his Poké ball in a beam of red light. Luke immediately released Shadow and he collapsed onto the floor "Shadow!" Luke cried in horror once more.

"What happened?" I asked in worry.

"When a Pokémon uses Moonlight it draws on the power of the moon to heal its injuries. Shadow can't absorb the moon's energy yet so he uses his own but that just makes him more tired and in this case seeing as he's healing someone else he absorbed their injuries..." Luke said stroking the fainted Shadow's head with worry. "Plus he couldn't cancel the attack..."

"Ug..." Ace groaned "I feel sick..." he opened his eyes and they looked a lot clearer than before. His wounds looked a lot less severe as well. "What happened to that Umbreon?" Ace asked in alarm his eyebrows shooting up.

"SHADOW." Luke said loudly in annoyance "Was trying to make you better."

"Sorry..." Ace said awkwardly rubbing the back of his head then he started to rummage through his bag "here this should make your Pokémon feel better..." he said handing Luke a small pink potion. "It's a hyper potion..." Ace explained "a lot more powerful than a normal potion..." Luke hesitantly sprayed Shadow with the hyper potion and immediately Shadow sat upright and shook his head as if he had never been injured.

"Thanks..." Luke said with a smile "sorry I was so grouchy before I was just worried about Shadow he's like my brother..." Luke said fondly looking at his Pokémon and patting him on the head.

"So who are you guys?" Ace asked "You've proven that you're not bad people..." he added with a smile.

"I'm Billy a Pokémon trainer!" I said with a grin.

"Paula I'm a fashion designer and part-time Pokémon co-ordinator when I get the chance..." Paula said with a smile.

"I'm Liz a... traveller" Liz said hesitantly.

"And I'm Luke a Pokémon photographer!" Luke said with a small smile. Ace whistled in a low impressed note.

"That's quite the group!" He said with a grin. "I guess you guys know me I'm Ace Deck Champion of Kanto and Johto!" Ace said with enthusiasm causing me to grin and clench my fist in excitement.

"Never heard of you." Liz said bluntly causing Ace to sulk slightly and me to elbow her again.

"Can we have a Pokémon battle?" I burst out with excitement causing Ace to raise his eyebrows.

"Sure... I don't see why not you guys did save my life after all..." he replied with a big grin which I easily matched. "But in the morning okay?" he said quickly causing my smile to falter slightly "I'm still quite tired and you must as well so let's battle when we are feeling refreshed." He said.

"Sure!" I replied with enthusiasm and we settled back to sleep.

**Paula's POV**

We woke up when the sunlight flooded the cave and to the sound of Billy yelling.

"Hurry up you guys it's time for my battle with Ace!" I groaned and walked sleepily outside the cave and was soon joined by Luke and Liz. Billy and Ace were standing at opposite side of the battlefield staring at each other.

"Why don't we make this interesting Billy?" Ace shouted and Billy head snapped up. Ace held up his index finger. "One Pokémon." He said "I'll use one Pokémon and you can use however many you like." Ace said with a cocky grin.

"Don't underestimate me!" Billy cried in determination. "I'll make you use more than one Pokémon! Let's do this thing Nicolas!" Billy's Nidorino came out of his Poké ball in a burst of white light.

"Billy's starting off with one of his strongest Pokémon." I said raising my eyebrows.

"Knock them out! Blaziken!" Ace cried and out came the powerful fire bird we had seen briefly yesterday. Blaziken's eyes narrowed upon seeing us and its fist set on fire. Something tells me it still doesn't trust us with its trainer... Ace took a deep breath closing his eyes then he looked up with fierce eyes and a slight frown on his face. I felt like I was looking at a completely different person.

"That Blaziken sure looks powerful..." Luke said in aware taking pictures with his camera causing Liz to give him funny looks.

"Wasn't that destroyed?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I fixed it..." Luke replied calmly still taking pictures.

"How?" I asked in disbelief

"Patience... hard work... and a lot of glue..." Luke said moving the camera so he could take better pictures. I caught Liz's eye and we both shrugged.

"I'll let you take the first move!" Ace cried still with his fierce look.

"My pleasure!" Billy cried "Nicolas use Poison Sting!" Nicolas opened his mouth a fired a series of thin purple needles at Blaziken.

"Jump." Ace ordered coolly and the Blaziken jumped so high into the sky it looked like it was flying and it when into the sun so that we couldn't see it properly. "Blaze Kick!" even though it was far away I could see the glow of fire on Blaziken from the ground and it started plummeting towards Nicolas.

"Nicolas listen for it coming and dodge!" Billy yelled and Nicolas big ears began twitching around and it started to run forwards. Seconds later Ace's Blaziken crashed into the area Nicolas had just been and formed a giant crater but the Blaziken stood up unfazed from its crash.

"Is that all you've got?" Ace asked with a sigh "We're not even trying."

"Nicolas Horn Attack!" Billy yelled in frustration. Nicolas sped towards Blaziken with his horn glowing white as it grew bigger.

"Sky Uppercut." Ace ordered

"Dodge it!" Billy yelled desperately Blaziken's fist began to glow white as Nicolas tried to run away it quickly bent down and sent Nicolas flying into the air.

"Nicolas!" Billy cried in shock.

"Jump." Ace ordered with a blank expression and Blaziken jumped high into the air sailing next to Nicolas. "Double Kick." Blaziken somersaulted in midair and kicked Nicolas back to the ground causing him to cry in pain. "Aerial Ace." Blaziken started to glow a brilliant white and it plummeted to earth once again slashing Nicolas with astonishing speed and landing without harm while Nicolas crashed into the ground causing smoke to fly everywhere. "If it gets up again you know what to do." Ace ordered calmly and his Blaziken nodded its fists blazing. When the smoke had gone it was clear that Nicolas had fainted.

"Wow he didn't even hit the Blaziken." I said with my mouth agape.

"And Ace isn't even trying..." Luke said taking a few more pictures.

"He didn't become a champion for nothing," Liz said with raised eyebrows.

"Nicolas return!" Billy cried with gritted teeth. "Kyra let's do this thing!" he cried releasing his Kadabra and I noticed Luke hiding his camera.

"Billy's really pulling out the big guns..." Liz said in surprise. Kyra wasn't in the mood for battle and she went to sleep making the Blaziken fists to flare up in anger for not being taken seriously.

"Kyra wake up!" Billy cried in annoyance and Ace raised his eyebrows.

"You guys need some work..." he said in surprise and he grinned "We'll finish this quickly so that it's not too embarrassing for you! Blaziken Sky Uppercut." he yelled calmly. Blaziken charged forwards with its fist glowing white and sent Kyra flying into the air. "Now jump and use Blaze Kick!" Blaziken jumped high into the air with its leg blazing. Suddenly Kyra disappeared from the air and reappeared in front of Billy looking furious.

"Great you woke up!" Billy cried oblivious to Kyra's feelings "Use Confusion while Blaziken is still in the air!" Kyra glared at him and suddenly she disappeared in a red beam back into the Poké ball. "Kyra come out and battle!" Billy yelled desperately pressing the Poké ball but Kyra didn't come out. Blaziken landed harmlessly on the other side of the battlefield and gave us bemused looks.

"Guess Kyra really doesn't feel like it today..." I said slowly.

"Do you want to continue battling?" Ace yelled "Or spend or day trying to get your Pokémon out of its Poké ball?" Billy's fist clenched in anger and he replaced Kyra's Poké ball on his belt.

"Let's do this thing Daniel!" Billy yelled and he released his small Cubone and I heard Liz sigh. Especially when he came over and hugged her leg.

"Bone cu!" Daniel cried happily snuggling into her leg.

"Yer... you too... But it's time to battle now..." Liz said reluctantly and Daniel peered at the giant Blaziken and burst into loud ear-splitting yells.

"I thought Blaze was bad..." I thought heard Luke mutter to Shadow softly.

"Do you have any Pokémon that go into battle without problems?" Ace yelled at Billy with raised eyebrows.

"Don't worry!" Liz cried in worry scooping Daniel up in her arms "I'm sure you'll be fine!" she said rocking him slightly. His crying seemed to quieten then cease altogether and a look of determination flashed over his face and he jumped from Liz's arms and faced up to the Blaziken. Ace shrugged unfazed by Daniel's determination.

"Double Kick!" He yelled and Blaziken kicked with its long legs.

"Duck!" Billy yelled and Daniel ducked with Blaziken's leg flying narrowly over him "Now use Bone Club!" Daniel spun his club around and leapt up at Blaziken causing it to swat him away.

"Aerial Ace." Ace said and Blaziken's arm glowed white and it burst towards Daniel with astonishing speed.

"Block it with you club!" Billy yelled quickly and Daniel lifted up his club but not quickly enough and he was sent flying head over heels. "Daniel!" Billy shouted and then Daniel had swirls in his eyes and Billy returned him without a single word. "Go Steve!" Billy cried releasing his Eevee.

"You still want to continue?" Ace asked with raised eyebrows and Billy glared in return. "Your choice then. Sky Uppercut." Ace ordered casually.

"Use Quick Attack to dodge!" Billy shouted and Steve burst away in white light before the Blaziken could hit him.

"Use Aerial Ace to catch that Eevee." Ace ordered and Blaziken burst forward in a white light easily catching up to Steve. Then Blaziken slashed at Steve so fast I almost missed it and he was sent flying backwards. "Double Kick." Ace ordered without hesitation. Blaziken ran after Steve and kicked him high into the air then it jump and kicked him back into the ground. "It's over." Ace said coldly before Steve even hit the ground. Then Steve crashed into the ground and like Ace had predicted he had fainted. Billy never even stood a chance and he hung his head without saying anything. Ace took another deep breath and his eyes became kind again and he walked up to Billy. "You did well," Ace said with a genuine smile patting Billy on the shoulder.

"Sometimes..." Billy chocked "it feels like we've come so far and become so good I forget... how far we are from someone at your level..." he said still hanging his head.

"The only way you advance in situations and in life is one step at a time..." Ace said and Billy sniffed and wiped his nose with his sleeve. Billy nodded and looked up his blue eyes filled with determination and my heart skipped a beat. I shook my head slightly and patted him on the shoulder with a smile.

"There's always going to be a chance to try again." I said reassuringly and Billy nodded.

"I'll always be up for another battle." Ace said with a smile. "But right now I have to go..."

"What do you mean?" I asked in surprise.

"I want to explore!" Ace said with a smile lighting up his face "I want to feel the wind on my face again!"

"It's probably not safe to travel just yet though..." Luke said "for you or Flygon..."

"I'll be fine!" Ace said with a smile "And who said Flygon was the only Pokémon I could use to travel? " Ace questioned with a wider smile. "Braviary go!" he cried releasing an unfamiliar giant red bird Pokémon.

"Wow amazing..." Luke said taking a few pictures "Never I'd thought a see a Pokémon from Unova in Kanto..."

"Are you sure you're up to this?" Billy asked in worry.

"I'm the champion!" Ace cried in offense "I'm up to anything!" he cried causing us to sigh. "What about you? Where are you guys heading now?" Ace asked in curiosity.

"I'm not sure Sabrina said there were gyms in Vermillion, Celadon and Fuchsia City" Billy said causing Ace to raise his eyebrows

"Paula you are doing contests right?" he asked me. I blinked with confusion.

"Yer..." I replied hesitantly.

"Then I recommend going to Vermillion city there's a contest there in four weeks time!" Ace said with a smile.

"Seriously?" I cried with excitement "Let's go then!" I cried with my eyes sparkling and started walking down the road.

"Wait!" Ace cried "one more thing!" Ace took off his backpack and started rummaging through it "Here is my thanks for all your help." Ace said kindly pulling something from out of his backpack and I gasped with excitement. In his hand were some slightly crinkled tickets to the SS Anne II.

"B-but those tickets are really expensive," I said in shock.

"Well you guys really helped me." Ace said with a smile "besides after the trouble I caused I don't think the Elite 4 will be too happy if I turned up out of the blue." He said with a cheeky grin.

"Hang on... there are six tickets and only four of us..."Luke said hesitantly looking at the tickets in Ace's hands.

"Well that just means you can take two other people as well..." Ace said shrugging slightly as if it didn't matter.

"Hold on!" Billy cried "We can't take those it's against-"I quickly clamped my hand over his mouth while Billy struggled against my grip.

"What he means to say is that he's extremely grateful." I said with a polite smile. Ace raised his eyebrows at us.

"Right..." he said hesitantly looking at us. He then gave a big grin and pressed the tickets into my hands. "I'd best be off then. Places to go, people to see. Who knows maybe I can even hold myself to ransom..." he added quietly causing me to blink in confusion.

"Make sure you don't annoy any more flying types."Luke said with a grin taking a few pictures of Ace's impressive Braviary.

"Yer... Thanks for the tickets..." Liz added looking at the floor.

"MMMPH!" Billy cried beneath my hand causing Ace to grin once more.

"I'm sure we'll see each other again." He said climbing onto Braviary and snapping his goggles onto his eyes. Braviary flapped its powerful wings and they lifted off flying high into the sky until they were little more than a black speck then they were gone.

_**Sorry for the long wait... In case you didn't realise I nothing about cards I know Ace can be the highest or the lowest card depending on certain things and the jack, queen and king are high cards not too sure about the joker though...Snake is the second in command and the official face of the organisation while the Master gives the orders in the background. I also meant for Argonaut to sound more evil but he didn't really get much chance to speak. You will all see his evilness when he appears though...Question Mark will also appear slightly more evil as well but he probably is the nicest of the bad guys anyways... the group has finally got tickets to get on the SS Anne 2 and the Elite 4 and the champion has been formally introduced! Plus two characters that I've already decided on are going to be given tickets as well. The champion kidnapping himself was stolen from the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. I know you probably wouldn't have absorbed any of the Elite 4 but they will hopefully be introduced properly in another chapter. Besides Ace and Allan names the Elite 4 names were stolen off books that happened to be nearby when I started typing this. Akkurate I'll see if I can put your character into my story he sounds interesting... RunningWitSizorz your gym leader sounds boss I'm going to put him in a few filler chapters as well so it won't be the usual battle the gym leader and never see or mention them again... Unfortunately the next chapters will be fairly short (Probably not much longer than this) until the contest then I'll have at least 6 long (with the contest involved in those chapters) and hopefully epic chapters before they go short again. That drawing of Liz as a Pichu was soooo cute you must have put a lot of effort into it I can't draw to save my life - well besides that pretty impressive drawing I did on paint (my profile picture)... I once did a boss drawing of a robin on paint as well... but I can't do any real life drawings so I think your drawing is really impressive I WONT BE ACCEPTING ANY MORE OC'S FOR NOW BECAUSE I'VE GOT ALOT ALREADY THAT I NEED TO SORT OUT IF I NEED MORE OC'S I'LL SEND OUT ANOTHER REQUESTMENT.**_

_**Ps it has come to my attention that a story has been published on fanfiction which is basically a carbon copy of my own. I've already PM'ed the author who did this expressing my feelings. It makes me truly happy that my work encourages others to write but it make me upset when people just copy my story. I don't even mind if people use the Pokémon- human idea just use your own plot. Anyway I must ask please do not copy my story I know some chapters it doesn't really feel like it but a lot of work goes into this and I really don't want it stolen away. I also must ask that people don't flame this author as I am sure that will make him/ her upset and like I said I have already expressed my feelings to them. **_

_**Keep a look out for the next chapter reviews make me happy so thanks for all the reviews I've got **_


	30. Evolution has to be well Exeggcute'd!

Disclaimer- Quickly this time bomb shaped like an egg is about to explode! You've got to cut the red wire! What do you mean there's no red wire? What this is a disclaimer? Ahhh! We've run out of time!... Huh there's no explosion? There's a little white flag coming out of the egg! It's got a message on it! 'I don't not own Pokémon and have wasted all your time with this pointlessly long disclaimer! LOL!' What the heck does that mean?

Evolution has to be well Exeggcute'd!

Paula's POV

I hugged my egg to my chest and hummed as we walked down the road.

"Why are you carrying that thing around? You could drop it and then it will be too scrambled to hatch properly." Liz said staring at me.

"I won't drop it! It's too important!" I resorted angrily. "Besides I saw it move yesterday it could be close to hatching!" I said in excitement.

"Are you sure it wasn't just your imagination? You haven't had it for that long." Billy said from besides me.

"I'm sure! It's not strange for it to be hatching this early with all the effort I went through in taking care of it!" I said with pride.

"What effort? I've never seen that egg before today." Luke said bluntly "if you took that good care of if we'd be seeing it nearly every day!"

"Keep that attitude up and you won't be able to take pictures when it does hatch!" I shouted angrily at him. As soon as Luke had seen my egg he had begged me to take pictures of when it hatched. Of course I wasn't really going to stop him but it was proving an effective threat.

"Wow keep that personality up and your egg will be rotten by the time it hatches..." Billy muttered besides me and I immediately felt bad.

"I'm sorry you guys..." I said stopping and staring at them. "It's just I'm really excited about this egg hatching. It will be the first Pokémon that's really mine." I said hugging the egg closer to me.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked in curiosity.

"Well although Alice was my first Pokémon she was also my mother's first and my grandmother's first Pokémon before that. I sometimes feel a bit distant from her..." I said sadly. "But this," I said holding up the egg "will be the first Pokémon that's well and truly mine." I said happily spinning around. The group smiled at me and Billy nudged me slightly with a grin.

"You must be really egg-cited!" He said with a grin causing Liz to stare at him

"Please tell me you didn't just make an egg pun..." she said in disbelief shaking her head.

"Exeggcute..." we turned to see an Exeggcute talking between its heads in the yield. One of the heads was yelling angrily at the other heads and then it started bouncing away with tears coming from its eyes.

"It's saying how it doesn't want its personality to be over ridden or something..." Luke said with concern on his face. Another one of the heads began to argue with the head which had bounced away. "That one's saying how it's every Exeggucute's dream to evolve and doesn't want that head ruining their chance." The running Exeggucute's tears began to increase once more and it shouted at the other heads "Its saying if you care about evolution more than my feelings than find yourselves another egg." Than the crying egg disappeared into the undergrowth causing the other 5 eggs left to mutter between themselves. Billy got out his Pokedex _'Exeggcute the egg Pokémon. Exeggcute travel in groups of six and use telepathy to speak between the heads. Should the number of Exeggcute be reduced to less than six, the remaining Exeggcute will attempt to replace it.'_ The Exeggcute seemed to notice us and grinned between themselves.

"What are they grinning about?" I asked with worry with a sense of forbidding hugging my egg slightly closer.

"It's probably nothing let's keep going." Billy said looking at the Pokémon. He didn't sound very convincing. The five Exeggcute stated to glow a strange purple light and we were surrounded by the light.

"I can't move!" Luke said struggling against the ground. "They must be using Psychic!" I tried to struggle myself with little success. For some reason even Shadow was affected by Psychic. I felt my arms begin to move and I struggled with all my might. Despite my best efforts my arms began to open.

"They're trying to take my egg!" I cried in horror and my arms burst open and my red egg floated towards the Exeggcute. My egg joined the Exeggcute and they smiled with glee.

"Shadow try to attack them and get it back!" Luke cried

"NO!" I screamed loudly "You could hit my egg!" I cried as the Exeggcute bounced off into the undergrowth carrying my egg between them. The psychic surrounding us disappeared and I found myself able to move again. "We've got to go get it back!" I cried in horror chasing after the Exeggcute.

"Paula!" Luke cried "Liz and I will go!"

"We will?" Liz asked and I glared fiercely at her making her cringe.

"We'll stand a better chance of catching up and finding the Exeggcute! And you guys can find us using Shadow!" Luke cried and he began to glow a familiar white light and I found myself facing a black Eevee with a golden amulet around his neck. Liz sighed softly and began to glow as well until she was a Pichu and the two of them ran into the undergrowth.

"They will be faster than us two..." Billy admitted with sigh.

"Well I'm following them anyway!" I cried and marched on the path the Exeggcute had taken following Shadow.

**Liz's POV**

Luke and I ran after the Exeggcute. For a bunch of bouncing eggs that were carrying another egg they sure were fast. If they dropped that egg Paula would kill us. For a ten year old she could be quite scary when she wanted to be.

"Give the egg back or we'll follow you till you crack!" Luke cried causing me to sigh.

"Not you too?" I asked running alongside him.

"Sorry couldn't resist." He said with a cheeky grin. The Exeggcute disappeared into some thick bushes. "Come on!"" Luke cried eagerly causing me to smile softly and we followed them into the bushes. We emerged in a big empty clearing in the middle of the forest.

"Where are they?" I questioned looking around the clearing. I couldn't see the Exeggcute anywhere; they hadn't been that far ahead of us.

"Not sure..." Luke said his ears twitching while he was sniffing at the ground. I sniffed at the air experimentally but couldn't smell anything. Luke apparently had a better sense of smell than me as he started to walk toward sniffing at the grass while his tail wagged in the air. I followed him slowly while he led the way. He stopped after a few meters and grinned. "They're here."

"Um... Luke hate to burst your bubble... but there's nothing there..." I said looking at the empty spot of grass where Luke had stopped.

"Nothing we can see anyway..." Luke said still grinning. Luke lifted up his hand (or paw) and stretched it slightly ahead of him. His hand seemed to collide with a barrier that was previously invisible. "They're using Reflect so that we don't see them." Luke said with raised eyebrows "I didn't think they'd have so much power without all six eggs." His paws began to glow with a metal gleam. Luke jumped in the air and he slashed at the space where the barrier was. "Metal claw!" he cried.

"Really?" I questioned "You shout out your moves? That's lame." Luke landed and scowled at me. The barrier scattered into pieces and the Exeggcute became visible.

"Please don't hurt us!" One of the eggs in the Exeggcute cried.

"You should have thought about that before you stole our friend's egg." Luke said growling slightly.

"We're not stealing we're only borrowing it!" another egg cried.

"Yes because that's really what it's called when you take something out of someone's arms and run away." I said with a sigh.

"Just give us a chance to explain!" Another egg yelled.

"Go on then..." Luke said reluctantly "but if you try to escape again we won't show any mercy." He said and I cracked my knuckles for good measure.

"I suppose introductions are in order..." one of the eggs said with a sigh. "I'm Eg the youngest." The least cracked egg said calmly.

"Egbert's my name!" the egg next to Eg shouted eagerly.

"Eggar," the third one said coldly.

"Egmond." The forth one said shyly.

"And I'm Egenezer the oldest." The fifth one who was showing the most yolk said. I burst out laughing.

"What? Are Exeggutor's just really bad at naming their kids? All of your names are clearly based of the word egg!" I said with a laugh.

"Anyway," One of them (probably Egenezer it's hard to tell) said with a cough. "We need to borrow your friend's egg for Eggvolution! We need six eggs to eggvolve and we're one short!"

"You seem a couple of eggs short of an omelette you know..." Luke said in disbelief ignoring my raised eyebrows. "Can you image the implications you could cause both to you and Paula's egg?" he cried "What happens when the egg hatches and you are evolved? That Pokémon has its own conscious! It's not like you can just borrow the egg to evolve and give it back! You'll be bound forever!" Luke cried in anger.

"Never the less it's the only option we have!" One of the eggs snapped "Not unless Egna listens to us and agrees to eggvolve!" I scratched my head in confusion

"Wait which one is Egna again?"I asked looking at the eggs in front of me.

"None of us!" They cried in synchronisation.

"S-sorry f-for snapping M-miss." Another egg stuttered "Egna is our sister and she originally agreed to eggvolve with us... but she changed her mind just before we went to the Leaf chasm saying she didn't want to eggvolve..."

"Leaf chasm?" Luke questioned

"It's where all the Exeggcute go to eggvolve." An egg explained "We don't need a leaf stone to eggvolve if we go there..."

"Well if that's the problem then all you have to do is find your sister and convince her otherwise. So we'll take back our friend's egg." I said with a shrug and I picked up the red egg staggering under its weight slightly.

"Whoa hold on there! You really think we'll let you take this egg and leave?" an egg cried jumping in front of us. All these eggs were making my brain scrambled...

"Move Eggar. Luke said coldly

"You can tell the difference!" I cried in astonishment causing everyone to give me a funny look.

"We don't look alike..." one of the eggs said in a bemused tone causing me to sigh.

"We're not going to let you take this egg." An egg said equally coldly lifting the egg out my hands with psychic.

"Give it back." Luke said stepping forward slightly growling.

"How about a trade?" One of the egg said bouncing forward with a cheeky grin. "You find our sister and bring her back her then we won't have any need for your friend's egg anymore." I frowned at the egg's grin.

"Or we could just thrash you and take back the egg ourselves." I said stepping forward cracking my knuckles.

"Do that and we can't grantee your friend's egg safety." The same egg said "It hasn't fully developed yet right? I wonder what would happen if it 'accidently' broke before that?" it said with a stupid grin on its face.

"You wouldn't," Luke said growling loudly but his eyes looked worried.

"Try us." The Exeggcute said in sync all with that stupid grin on their faces. "You have two hours before we leave for Leaf Chasm."

**Billy's POV**

I stumbled over yet another tree stump as I tried to force my way through a cluster of brambles and nettles. Paula marched ahead of me as if there was nothing blocking her path and her normally bright face was pale. Shadow was only slightly ahead of us his smaller size made it a lot easier for him to travel through the forest but even he was struggling slightly. He stopped and sniffed slightly and then carried on with a look of determination.

"We must be getting near now..." I said quietly to Paula who merely nodded in return. We doubled our efforts to get through the patch of brambles and eventually made it out of the other side with several more cuts. Shadow sniffed the air slightly and sat down.

"What are you doing? We need to keep moving!" Paula cried.

"Umbreon." Shadow scoffed with a frown and didn't move.

"...vee..." I turned slightly as I heard at faint noise

"Did you hear that?" I asked.

"No." Paula said with a frown "Come on Shadow please we have to move..." She pleaded causing Shadow to sigh and lie down.

"Vee!"

"Chu!" I heard two clear shouts this time.

"It's them!" I cried happily "Luke and Liz have come back!" I said looking off into the trees.

"Sorry for shouting at you Shadow..." Paula said humbly while Shadow merely grinned and shrugged.

"HEY GUYS WE'RE OVER HERE!" I yelled into the trees as a familiar looking Eevee and Pichu came into view. They both began glowing with a bright light and I found myself looking up at my friends.

"You guys we've got to go now!" Luke cried covered in sweat.

"Why what's going on? And where's my egg?" Paula asked with concern showing on her face.

"To cut a long story short... the Exeggcute need it to evolve won't give it back unless we find their sister," Liz explained and she hesitated slightly "... another egg would probably work just as well though..." She pondered.

"Plus they're going to leave in two hours with your egg if we don't find it!" Luke finished.

"No way!" Paula cried "That's stupid! How do they expect us to find one egg in this giant forest?" she explained loudly with her arm shaking slightly and her hand clenched in a fist.

"Don't worry!" I cried

"How do you expect me not to?" Paula snapped at me and I recoiled slightly seeing the tears in her eyes.

"We don't know if we'll even find your egg if we don't look for it first!" I cried. "Let's do this Steve, Daniel and Nicolas!" I cried releasing my Pokémon and Luke looked at me in determination.

"Billy's got the right idea." He said "You up for this Shadow?" He asked his Umbreon who nodded with a smile. "Go Harry!" He cried releasing his Hoothoot.

"Paula." I said turning to her. "We can find your egg we just got to work together on this." I said in determination. She looked hesitantly at our rather large group and wordlessly released Alice from her Poké ball.

"Okay then. But if my egg gets turned into an Exeggutor there will be hell to pay."

**One hour of searching later... **

**Luke's POV**

I walked in the forest as our group searching in every tree, shrub and under every rock we could find.

"Mama Mama I found an egg!" Daniel cried happily running out of a nearby bush.

"That's a rock..." Liz said hesitantly looking at the egg shaped rock in Daniel's arms and his eyes began to tear up.

"This is taking forever..." Steve moaned.

"It would go a lot faster if you stop complaining and started searching properly!" Shadow snapped causing Steve to scurry into some nearby bushes.

"The speed of time isn't really an issue... if anything the passage of time is going too quickly," Nicolas said with a frown.

"We haven't found anything not this Exeggucute's sister or another egg..." Alice said with a frown.

"We could just give them the rock if they're desperate enough to take a Pokémon egg I'm sure they'll be happy with a rock..." Liz said with a sigh and Daniel's face brightened slightly.

"They won't be." Shadow said bluntly and Daniel began tearing up while Liz grabbed him by the ear.

"I know but the last thing we want to deal with is him crying isn't it?" she hissed "its okay Daniel..." she said patting him on the head "I've always wanted a lovely... rock..." she said hesitantly and Daniel's face brightened again as Liz put the rock in her bag.

"We really need to find it in half an hour or so otherwise we won't make it back in time..." Paula said biting her lip.

"Don't worry." Billy said placing his hand on her shoulder but it was clear that he was worried as well. I noticed some fluttering in the trees and I turned my head to see my Hoothoot.

"Find anything?" I asked and he shook his head sadly. "I see..." I said in disappointment. Steve reappeared from the bushes and sat down casually.

"I thought I told you to search!" Shadow snapped.

"Well if you guys don't want to know the location of a crying Exeggcute head that's not my problem." Steve said smugly causing us all to stare at him.

"Have you actually found it or are you just pretending?" Liz said with a frown. "Because that wasn't funny the first few times you did that and it won't be funny this time."

"Liz, why do you not have any faith in me?" Steve tutted

"You can't really blame her..." Shadow and Alice muttered

"Anyways," Steve said with a cough "I want you all to apologise and worship forever. Then I might just lead you to the egg..." Steve said smugly causing us to burst out laughing.

"Just save yourself some trouble and lead us there." I said wiping a tear from my eye and I noticed Paula and Billy staring at us like we were mad. Steve started to blush bright red in embarrassment.

"Fine." He said stiffly "but I still expect some reward." He said walking forward while the rest of suppressed giggles.

"Come on you guys." I told Billy and Paula and eventually Steve led us to a small rocky hole through which we could see a crying Exeggcute head.

"See I told you." Steve said smugly.

"Great work Steve!" Billy cried happily. "Now return!" he cried holding up a Poké ball.

"Wait! I want a rew-"Steve cried before he was returned to his Poké ball. Daniel, Nicolas, Alice and Harry were also returned to their Poké balls.

"Come on." Paula said in determination climbing through the small hole.

"Let's just grab it and go..." Lizzy whispered in my ear.

"We have to ask it otherwise we're as bad as the Exeggcute..." I muttered and I cleared my throat.

"Go away!" The Exeggcute cried hearing my cough.

"Just listen to us for a second..." Lizzy said with a sigh

"We need you to come with us. You see this group of Exeggcute took our friend's egg in order to evolve and they won't give it back unless we can replace it with another egg..." I explained and the egg frowned deeply.

"Let me guess it was a group of five male eggs?" The egg asked causing me to raise my eyebrows in surprise.

"How did you know?" I asked in surprise

"I should have known my brothers would have fried something like this!" The egg cried in frustration

"Did she just say fried?" Liz muttered but I decided to ignore her.

"That means you're Egna?" I asked

"Yer but you guys are wrong. I cannot help you and I cannot eggvolve with them." Egna said turning her back on us slightly.

"Why not?" Liz asked with a sigh.

"I don't want to be bound to my brothers forever! I'm my own egg!" Egna cried with tears in her eyes. "Why should I have to eggvolve? I didn't even want to in the first place but they didn't even care about my feelings!"

"But we really need you otherwise they're going to take our friend's egg..." I said sadly

"Yer... Can't you just pretend you're going to evolve with them then run away?" Liz asked sadly.

"I'm sorry it's impossible they can read my mind and know my intentions we Exeggcute can't hide our thoughts from each other... Plus they probably be watching me egg-xtra carefully as well." Egna said sadly. I sighed and explained the situation to Paula and Billy while Egna turned away unhappily.

"No way what are we meant to do now?" Paula said with a pale face "We haven't got enough time to try and find another egg!" she cried in panic.

"Don't worry!" Billy cried "I have a plan!"

"Oh dear..." Liz muttered

"We're going to get your egg back Paula! Billy cried "Here's my plan..."

**Time passes and the group goes back to the field with the Exeggcute in it...**

**Paula's POV**

I crouched in some nearby bushes for once not caring how dirty my clothes were getting. I watched the nearby group of Exeggcute as they clustered around my red egg and I restrained myself from leaping out of my hiding place. I noticed Liz and Luke approach the Exeggcute which attracted their attention.

"We've got you an egg but it wasn't easy." Luke said his tone neutral.

"You better appreciate it." Liz said with a frown.

"Egg Exeggcute egg!" One of the Exeggcute yelled bouncing forwards toward them.

"Okay okay!" Liz cried taking off her backpack and unzipping it. "Here's your egg." She said taking out the rock- shaped egg causing me to groan softly. There's no way this would work...

"Egg egg egg cute!" the eggs yelled loudly with frowns on their faces.

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked in an innocent tone. "Of course it's a real egg..." he said and I frowned slightly. Billy was meant to be here by now...

"Exe egg cute Exeggcute!" the eggs yelled in protest.

"Let Paula's egg go now!" Billy cried from somewhere I looked around but I couldn't see him. Then he burst through the ground with Steve in a giant dig attack. "Otherwise we'll beat you until you're sunny side up!" Billy finished and I creped out of my hiding place.

"Egg egg Exeggcute!" one of the eggs yelled "eg egg egg egg!"*** **

"Please stop making references to eggs..." Liz sighed massaging her head slightly.

"Exeggcute!" One of the eggs yelled and they fired a giant Psybeam at my friends.

"Now!" Billy yelled and Shadow, Nicolas and Daniel burst out of the bushes. They each attacked an individual egg while Luke and Liz began to glow white and attacked an egg each as well. They each separated their egg from the other eggs and pinned down so that they couldn't gather their power. "Well that worked better than expected..." Billy said in surprise seeing the struggling eggs.

"I still don't understand why you had to dig through the floor..." I said with a small smile picking up my red egg happily.

"Because it's the element of surprise! Plus it's a really cool way to make an entrance!" Billy cried. Suddenly all the Pokémon got blasted off the Exeggcute with a powerful psychic type move.

"No way!" Billy cried "Luke said they shouldn't have enough power when they're separated they just seem stronger!" I frowned and clutched the egg in my arms.

"You guys have all done so much to help me! It's now my turn to do something!" I yelled in determination standing in front of Billy. "I'm not going to let you take my egg again!" I cried and my egg began glowing a brilliant white like it was a Pokémon evolving.

"What? The egg is hatching?" Billy cried loudly as the egg shook in my hands.

A small crack in the egg appeared near the top. The egg shook violently again and another bigger crack appeared in the middle. The white light slowly formed into a shape smaller than my knee. The rough egg shell was replaced by the feeling of silky fur and the weight in my hands seemed to increase. Suddenly instead of a glowing white egg I was faced with a pair of amber eyes.

"Growlithe?" I heard a voice say and the eyes blinked and I noticed Billy get out his Pokedex. '_Growlithe the Puppy Pokémon, it has a powerful sense of smell to identify the emotions of others. Upon getting a scent, it will not forget it, no matter what. This Pokémon is also extremely loyal to its trainer. This Growlithe is a female level 1.' _The Growlithe in my arms sniffed experimentally at my neck and yipped happily.

"eg-egg egg!"An egg yelled unhappily with a pale face.

"Exeggcute egg eg egg! Egg eg cute!" One of the eggs yelled and all the others nodded in determination and they all started bouncing towards me.

"They haven't given up!" Billy yelled in frustration.

"No stay back!" I yelled unhappily backing up slightly and the Growlithe in my arms frowned slightly. She looked up at me then turned to the Exeggcute and she jumped out of my arms. A small fire started building in her mouth and she released a spiral of fire. "That's Fire Spin!" I cried in astonishment as Growlithe's Fire spin engulfed the Exeggcute in a blazing hot inferno. After the attack had passed five blackened and extra crispy Exeggcute were visible and they blinked in unison.

"EGG!" They cried and they ran away into the forest. I smiled happily as I saw a brilliant white light and Luke and Liz approached me.

"Why didn't you guys do anything?" Billy demanded "I know you couldn't have fainted especially not you Shadow!" He shouted causing them all to grin.

"Well we were going to help but once we saw the egg hatching we thought you could handle it..." Liz said with a smile and a small shrug.

"Plus it's good to have a bonding moment with a new Pokémon." Luke added with a shrug and then his face paled "I FORGOT TO TAKE PICTURES!" He cried unhappily causing me to start laughing.

"Don't worry you'll have plenty of time in the future." I said with a small smile "I think I'll name you Felicity!" I cried happily picking up my new addition.

"Growl!" Felicity cried happily licking my cheek causing me to giggle.

***- "we've already beaten you to the scramble!" one of the eggs yelled "just give it up!" – I already had this translated as it was originally in Luke or Liz's POV it won't become a regular thing with me translating stuff cause I'm lazy...**

_**Egg puns make my brain scrambled... The egg hatched hurray! But it's not a Vulpix it's a Growlithe which isn't that far off to be honest... but I currently have no plans for any of the 4 main characters to catch a Vulpix but like I said Paula trying to dress one up would be funny thanks again for reviewing. **_

_**So sorry for the long update I wanted to update quickly but a lot of stuff got in the way. On the plus side I'm now on my holiday which means I have some free time! On the down side I'm working next week from Monday till Friday so if I don't update by next Monday you'll probably have to wait for about two weeks...I've been thinking about my story at a rough guess there should be about 60 more chapters (and probably a lot more chapters to be added) so I'm defiantly not going to quit! It just sometimes takes me a while to update especially around about now but soon(about 4 weeks) I'll be finished with this stupid project I'm doing then I'll (hopefully) have a lot more free time. As for Bubbles and Red going on the ship... well I don't really want to say anything but the most obvious answer is not necessarily correct or something... or I am just lying to you? **_


	31. The Ranger and the Rescue Team!

Disclaimer- I don't own Pokémon

The Ranger and the Rescue Team!

**Luke's POV**

I sat watching on a log with Liz and Shadow sitting next to me watching as Paula and Billy stood glaring at each other from either side of a big field a small breeze went over it. Paula picked up a Poké ball from her belt.

"Let's get going Felicity!" She cried releasing her newest addition Growlithe.

"I'm going to win this for you Paula!" Felicity cried with a voice filled with confidence causing me to raise an eyebrow.

"Let's do this thing Daniel!" Billy cried releasing his small Cubone.

"Hi mama!" Daniel cried happily waving at Liz who waved back half-heartedly with a sigh. Daniel looked at the Growlithe staring at him and seemed to realise he was in a battle because he gripped his club more tightly and held it in front of him though he looked quite nervous. I shifted through my bag and got out my camera and took a quick snap of both Pokémon.

"Ladies first!" Paula cried happily in a sing-song voice causing Billy to frown. "Felicity use Fire Spin!" Paula cried in determination. Felicity released a giant spiral of fire which heading straight towards Daniel burning the grass beneath the attack. I gasped in amazement and took more pictures.

"Daniel spin your club around!" Billy yelled as Daniel began to spin his club rapidly in front of himself. The Fire Spin attack hit Daniel head on causing him to be pushed back slightly under the force of the attack but his club formed a perfect shield causing the fire to blast in many directions into the air. I took another picture of the spectacle. "Now use Bone Club!" Billy cried as Daniel charged forwards with his club in the air.

"Felicity wait till he gets close!" Paula cried and Felicity nodded as Daniel ran towards her and swung his club. "Use Bite!" she cried and Felicity jumped up and caught Daniel's club in her mouth causing him to panic and try and pull it out.

"Daniel quickly use Headbutt!" Billy cried and Daniel slammed his head forwards causing Felicity to yelp and roll backwards releasing Daniel's club in the process.

"Felicity you okay?" Paula cried and her Growlithe stood up and nodded "Okay then! Felicity use Fire Spin on yourself!" Paula cried

"What the-?" Billy proclaimed as Felicity was consumed by her own Fire Spin. I took a few more pictures in astonishment. The fire slowly got drawn into Felicity's fur and she grinned and didn't even look injured. "Okay then..." Billy said in astonishment "If you want to help us defeat you then that your choice!" he cried "use Bone Club once more!" Billy cried as Daniel ran forwards once more.

"Fire Spin!" Paula cried with a grin on her face.

"Like that will work!" Billy cried "Spin your club again!" Daniel stopped running and started spinning his club rapidly in circles. Felicity began building a fire in her mouth and unleashed a massive Fire Spin a lot bigger than the previous one.

"Felicity's ability must be Flash Fire!" Shadow cried in amazement.

"And for those of us who don't know every ability of every Pokémon?" Liz asked in a questioning voice.

"Basically if the Pokémon gets hit by a fire type move the power of its fire type moves increases plus the Pokémon is immune to fire type moves..." I explained causing Liz to raise her eyebrows and we turned back to the battle.

"No way!" Billy cried in astonishment just as Daniel got hit by the massive Fire Spin. He flew backwards hitting the floor a couple of times before finally coming to a halt before bursting into tears. "Oh boy..." Billy sighed before sending a pleading look towards Liz.

"MAMA MAMA!" He cried loudly causing Felicity to blink in surprise.

"What's wrong with him?" She asked Paula who merely stared at the crying Pokémon shaking her head slightly.

"Guess that means my break is over..." Liz said with a sigh before standing up to comfort the small Pokémon.

"Billy are we actually going to finish the battle?" Paula asked with raised eyebrows "Because neither Pokémon has actually fainted..." Billy threw a look at Liz and Daniel who crying seemed to cease slightly before he fell asleep happily.

"Guess not..." Billy said rubbing the back of his head. "You could just battle one of my stronger Pokémon!" He cried in determination.

"No way mister!" Paula cried "We agreed to battle our weakest Pokémon and your other Pokémon would be on too high a level!" Felicity frowned slightly at being called as weak as Daniel.

"That just means you're a chicken!" Billy shouted

"You can't even control your own Pokémon to make it stop crying!" Paula shouted in anger.

"This is getting out of hand..." I said with a sigh.

"Well at least I have more than two Pokémon!" Billy resorted

"Both Billy and Paula's stress levels seem high..." Shadow said sniffing the air.

"That's because you scare off all the Pokémon I want to catch with your yelling!" Paula yelled in return

"It must be because they both have the contest and gym battle in the next city and we should be there by next week..." I said staring at the two younger trainers. "Plus Billy's been on a losing streak recently and from what I heard Paula lost her last contest..."

"Me yelling? You're the one always screaming in delight when you see a cute Pokémon!" Billy cried "Or maybe they're scared by your face!" He added with a grin.

"The next contest and battle must mean a lot to them." Shadow said with raised eyebrows. "But they're taking their taking their stress too far... I think a small break would be best." Shadow said while the arguing trainers glared at each other.

"You made your own Pokémon cry with your ugly face the other day!" Paula shouted causing Billy to go slightly red. When he had been playing peek-a-boo with Daniel he had made the small Pokémon burst into tears. The photo I got of that moment still made me grin.

"But how can we get them to take a break when they won't stop yelling?" I asked frowning. Suddenly Billy, Paula and Felicity (Daniel wasn't affected) got blasted with a powerful electric shock knocking them all out with its power. I noticed a familiar looking Pichu and sighed.

"Well that was easy..." Liz said wiping her hands of imaginary dust. "I've wanted to do that for a while." She said happily.

"Now all we have to do is decide where to take them for their vacation." Shadow said.

"And how we're going to get them there..." I added with a sigh causing Liz to groan.

"Yer forgot about that part..." She admitted

"Plus they probably won't be in the vacation mood when they wake up..." Shadow added with a frown.

"Okay so it wasn't the best plan in the world! Sue me!"Liz cried "Let's just move them before they wake up!"

"It seems like Billy and Paula aren't the only ones in need of a little rest..."Shadow muttered from besides me.

**Billy's POV**

I groaned softly feeling a small breeze go over me. My whole body ached like I had just ran a marathon. My eyes fluttered open and I looked around in confusion. I was leaning against a big tree next to a large pool. Next to me Paula was sleeping peacefully but her hair was sticking up strangely and I sniggered. Wait a minute... A new location... Paula's hair is sticking up... we must have been attacked! I stood up in panic and looked around. I couldn't see Luke, Liz or Shadow anywhere. Where were they? I noticed my Poké balls were missing as well and I started to really panic. They must have been captured by scientists or something! I thought we were being really careful! But why would they take my Pokémon as well? It must be to check if I have anymore Pokémon that can turn into humans! Or to prevent me going after them! But why wouldn't they take me or Paula to integrate us for information? All this going in circles was making me frustrated! I shook Paula awake

"...go away..." she murmured but I continued to shake her shoulder. "Billy?" She questioned her purple eyes fluttering open. "Where are we?" she asked sitting upright.

"I don't know!" I cried in panic "Liz, Luke, Shadow and all my Pokémon are gone!" I cried and Paula patted herself around the waist.

"My Pokémon are gone too!" She cried standing up. "What happened?" she asked breathing in short gasps in panic.

"Luke and Liz might have been captured by people who want to experiment on them!" I cried. "I don't know why they took our other Pokémon though and left us..." I admitted

"But that doesn't make much sense... unless they thought we didn't have much worthwhile information..." Paula thought and I clicked my fingers in realisation.

"Of course! They must have left us for that reason! And they want our Pokémon for their slaves or for other experiments!" I cried and Paula's face paled.

"What do we do?" She asked her arm trembling slightly. There was no way we could get all the way to Vermillion City without Pokémon and there was nowhere else to go nearby to get help. Even if I phoned for help on my Poke Nav I couldn't give them my location and who knows what would happen if we got attacked before help arrived? I had never felt so vulnerable before not even when I began my journey without Pokémon. That was before I realised how potentially dangerous Pokémon could be though...

"CAPTURE ON!" I heard a voice yell though the trees and I saw a strange white flash through the trees.

"Come on!" I cried grabbing Paula's wrist running towards the voice while dragging her behind me. I sprinted extra fast through the forest, jumping over logs and patches of grass. The last thing I wanted was to get attacked now. I ran into a small forest clearing and noticed a tanned boy a few years older than me making strange shapes with a red gadget that looked a bit like a Poke Nav only with a small metal rod sticking out of it. The boy wore a strange uniform complete with a red head band and a red jacket underneath which he wore a black shirt with black shorts. He also wore several colourful bracelets on his right hand which was also holding the strange gadget. By his said a large brown dog-like Pokémon was barking encouragement it looked like it was wearing a black cape. It was a Pokémon that I had never seen before. The gadget was making white lines in the air which made a circle that surrounded a small Pidgey which was trying to fly away. The circle grew smaller around the Pidgey and then enclosed around the Pokémon and the circle disappeared.

"Capture complete!" The boy cried happily and to my astonishment the Pidgey flew over to the boy's shoulder as if it had not just been trying to fly away. "Enjoy the show?" The boy said turning towards us showing off his pearly white teeth.

"What was that?" Paula asked mouth a gape.

"That was the Capture Styler a device we Pokémon Rangers use to add Pokémon to our party and help to calm them down. It also helps controlling wild Pokémon to some degree as well." The boy answered with a grin. "Nice hair by the way." He added causing Paula to gasp and glare fiercely at me before fixing her hair.

"So you can travel through the forest safely?" I demanded causing the boy to raise his eyebrows.

"Essentially yes. They are always Pokémon that the Styler can't catch but that's what my partner Taffi the Herdier is here for." The boy said happily patting his Pokémon on the head causing its tail to wag.

"Then can you help us?" I demanded "We have to get to a phone or find out where we are!"

"Why? What's the problem? Maybe I can help it's my job as a Pokémon ranger after all!" The boy said grinning kindly causing me to blink in surprise. Normally it was me offering to help someone else. Paula touched my arm

"We might be able to get them back more easily if we get help quicker." She said causing the ranger to blink. I looked at him and nodded.

"Just don't say too much." I muttered.

"I'm not thick!" She hissed back and smiled at the ranger. "You see we woke up and all our Pokémon had vanished... we wanted to get some help but we don't know where we are..." she said and the ranger's face darkened.

"Actually the whole reason I'm in this forest is that multiple trainers have reported their Pokémon going missing!" the Ranger cried causing us to gasp.

"So it wasn't just us!" Paula explained loudly.

"That means they weren't kidnapped because of Luke and Liz!" I proclaimed with relief causing the ranger to look at me with raised eyebrows and Paula to glare at me.

"Who are Luke and Liz? Your Pokémon?" he asked causing me to panic slightly.

"Um... yer they look a bit different than normal Pokémon... so we thought they might have been kidnapped by sc- I mean bad people who might want to sell them!" I cried and the ranger hummed in thought.

"Pokémon poaching... well it's not unheard of I suppose..." The Ranger said thinking causing me to panic again. Liz, Luke and all the Pokémon might not be experimented on but they still might be in a bad situation. "I haven't heard of any well known poachers that have been sighted in the area recently though..." He continued causing me to relax a little. "Can you tell me the details of what happened?" he asked both of us.

"Well the last thing I remember was that was arguing with Billy in a different place..." Paula said with a frown on her face while the ranger wrote down some notes. "Then I was in a lot of pain like I was attacked... and the next thing I know I wake up in different place with Billy but no Pokémon! Then we heard you through the trees and here we are!" Paula explained and the Ranger finished taking notes.

"That's all I remember as well..." I confirmed

"That's interesting..." He said flipping through his note book.

"What is it?" I questioned.

"Well first of all none of the other trainers reported being attacked..." He said flipping through his note book. "They all said they fell asleep hearing a strange song..." he said causing wild looks to be sent between Paula and me. We didn't hear any song... "And secondly none of the other trainers woke up in a different location..." He added causing another look to be sent between Paula and me.

"Does that mean our Pokémon might have been taken by something else?" Paula asked biting her lip.

"It's possible..." The Ranger admitted reluctantly and the colour drained out of my face. "And it also makes my job ten times harder if it's the case!" He cried in frustration. "Anyway it's too risky for you two to wander around without any Pokémon!" he said pointing at us. "You'll have to come with me for now and when I have the chance I'll drop you off at a nearby city!" He said smiling once again.

"We'll help you as much as we can in the meantime!" I cried.

"Yer! Um what's your name?" Paula asked causing the Ranger to grin.

"I'm Pokémon Ranger Adam!" he said

**Liz's POV**

I woke up in a small tree hollow in my Pichu form and looked around. Luke (in Eevee form) and Shadow were sleeping peacefully and nearby was a pile of Paula's and Billy's Poké balls. Where was I? This place didn't look familiar. Plus Billy and Paula weren't here as well... I sighed. I'm sure they're fine those kids are like boomerangs after all...

"Oh boy!" An unfamiliar voice cried and I looked up. It was a humanoid Pokémon a couple of inches bigger than myself with creamy and brown coloured body and a leaf sticking out of its head, and looked like it was wearing a mask creamy mask. "You're awake!" It cried grabbing my hands "You're awake!" It cried happily again shaking my hand eagerly and I was too dumbfounded to say anything. "I've got to tell Katie!" it cried again before running out of the tree hollow. "I'll be back in a minute!" It cried running off causing me to blink.

"Okay..." I said looking around the tree hollow. I tapped Luke awake.

"What it is Lizzy?" he said waking up slowly. "Why are you are a Pichu? And where are we?" he asked looking around.

"Well you should take a look at yourself..." I said grinning at him. "And we're in some tree hollow somewhere... with an overly keen Pokémon that I don't recognise taking care of us..." I said causing Luke to raise his eyebrows as if he didn't believe me. Just as the overly keen Pokémon came back next to a frowning Jigglypuff who I assumed to be Katie.

"Look they've woken up!" the overly keen Pokémon cried pointing to us.

"It's a Nuzleaf..." Luke said with raised eyebrows "You don't normally see those in Kanto..."Luke sighed "I wish I had my camera..." He muttered

"I'm Ramon!" The Nuzleaf cried "This is Katie!" he said gesturing to the Jigglypuff confirming my suspicions.

"Erm... I'm Luke" Luke said then he pointed a paw at me "She's Liz," Then he pointed at Shadow (who had just woken up) "And that's Shadow..." he said looking at the Poké balls behind Shadow.

"Don't worry we rescued your friends as well!" Ramon said in a chirpy voice. What did he mean rescued? I couldn't remember getting into trouble...

"Err... did you see any human kids near us when you rescued us?" I questioned and the look on Katie's face darkened.

"We didn't see any humans." She said harshly. "And we don't like talking about them either." She added.

"Katie its okay..." Ramon said sadly patting his friend on the back. "Anyway..." He said hesitantly sensing the mood had gone sour. "Why don't we go outside and you can introduce us to your other friends!" he cried happily. I looked at Luke and Shadow and they both shrugged. I looked at the two Pokémon and I nodded causing Ramon's face to light up. "Okay let's go!" He cried going into the tree hollow and putting the Poké balls into a small wagon before dragging them outside. I followed the Pokémon and went outside and saw that although we were still in the forest we were in the middle of a rocky chasm. We reached a small clearing and Katie and Ramon stopped and Ramon smiled at us.

"This should do..." Katie said looking around. Luke, Shadow and I released all the Pokémon (Expect Kyra).

"The great Blaze has finally arrived!" An unfamiliar Charmander cried upon being released

"Who on earth is this?" I questioned

"Ah that's Blaze..." Luke said in embarrassment.

"Blaze." Steve sniggered "That name is sooo cl-"Shadow put a paw over his mouth before Steve could finish his sentence.

"Trust me if you don't want to get thrashed you won't finish that sentence." Shadow said seriously and Steve frowned and attempted to break free.

"He's my Charmander I got from an egg..." Luke explained "But he's got a bit of an attitude problem..."

"Hey what do you mean attitude?" Blaze questioned in a tone that suggested he took offense from the very suggestion. Felicity laughed loudly.

"I guess it's true that all men are little boys." She sniggered

"On the contrary," Nicolas said "Some you may find are gentlemen." He said with a smile.

"You just won't find any here." I added with a smirk causing Nicolas to glare at me.

"Who's this?" Steve asked squirming out of Shadow's grasp tackling Felicity lightly.

"Steve you shouldn't attack other Pokémon!" Alice scolded just as Felicity bit Steve on the tail causing him to yelp. "Felicity!" Alice yelled.

"I'll teach you to mess with me!" Steve yelled

"STOP!" Alice screamed spraying them both with a powerful Water Gun causing them both to blink. "Now," Alice said with a sigh "Steve this is Felicity who was in Paula's egg. Felicity this is Steve Billy's Eevee." Alice said and the two Pokémon glared fiercely at each other.

"Mama..." Daniel said tapping my shoulder "Why are they fighting?"

"Some Pokémon just don't get on with each other..." I said with a sigh.

"Maybe they're taking after their trainers..." Luke said with a grin.

"Um..." Ramon spoke up turning everyone attention to him and Katie. "Aren't you going to introduce yourselves?" and we looked and him and introduced ourselves one by one.*****

"I'm Katie." The Jigglypuff said "this is Ramon." She said dully pointing at the Nuzleaf.

"Together we make Rescue Team Knight!" Ramon cried eagerly "Because we're the knights that protect the Pokémon!" he cried picking up a nearby stick and swinging it like a sword.

**Paula's POV**

Billy and I followed Adam through the forest as he pointed out various different trees and shrubs with an eager look in his eyes.

"See that?" He asked pointing to a tree with strange green fruit on it. "That's a Pecha tree. When the berries are ripe they turn pink. They've very good for curing poison." He said with a smile on his face.

"Wow you really know a lot about nature." I said in aware.

"It's very useful for the job." Adam said with a shrug "But I first got interested in plants with my mum. We used to work on the garden together. It was only a small garden but the most beautiful plants grew and bloomed there thanks to my mum's effort." He said smiling softly.

"Sounds wonderful." I said picturing the place.

"If we're nearby one day you'll have to show us." Billy said with a grin and Adam's face darkened slightly.

"It's not there anymore." He said quietly and sped up a bit. Taffi look worryingly after Adam before running after him. I looked at Billy and he shrugged and we jogged a bit to catch him up. Adam didn't point out any more plants he recognised.

"Wait a minute..." Billy said after half an hour of walking in silence. "Paula doesn't this look a lot like where we were before we woke up at that tree and lake?" he questioned. I looked around at our location.

"Not sure... all the forest looks the same to me." I admitted

"Hmm..." Adam said looking around. "Taffi do you think you can search for Billy's and Paula's scent in this area?" Taffi nodded and started looking around the area we had had stopped in. "Could you look around too Pidgey?" Adam asked and the Pidgey nodded and started flying away. In a few minutes Taffi came back barking. "You detected their scent?" Adam questioned and the Pokémon nodded. "Guess we must be near the scene of the crime..." Adam said thinking just as the Pidgey came back cooing. "You found something as well?" Adam questioned and the Pidgey nodded and started flying forwards. "Come on you guys!" Adam said chasing the Pidgey and we chased Adam. Eventually we came to an empty field with a few strange black scorch marks on the ground. "Thanks." Adam said smiling at the Pidgey who nodded and flew away.

"Where's it going?" Billy questioned and Adam shrugged.

"Back to its nest probably. It's done its job and helped me so it doesn't need to stay anymore." He explained.

"Wouldn't it be more useful to catch Pokémon? Than you can use them to help you whenever you like..." I asked and Adam looked shocked.

"Of course not!" Adam cried "We Rangers believe Pokémon are always best left in their environment. Plus any Pokémon that we gain with the Capture Styler are normally familiar with the area we are working in which is extremely useful information! The only Pokémon we have with us are our partner Pokémon or Pokémon that decide to travel with us! The Pokémon partners are not kept in Poké balls either. They are free to leave whenever they like." Adam explained and he bent down looking at the scorch marks. "Hmm... that's interesting..." he murmured

"What is it?" Billy asked

"Could you just lie down here?" Adam asked pointing to a spot on the ground.

"Um... okay..." Billy said lying down on the spot where Adam had pointed. Adam bent down next to him and pinched some of the earth rubbing it his fingers. He got out of his notebook at scribbled some notes down.

"Okay. This is where you were attacked alright." Adam said standing up with certainty.

"How can you tell?" I questioned.

"These scorch marks were made only an hour or two ago which coincides with want you've told me. Plus there's small gaps in these scorch marks one of which is almost the exact same size of Billy which is why I asked you to lie down." Adam said turning to Billy. "There are also drag marks in the soil which aren't very noticeable but I noticed you two have the same soil on your clothes." I turned and looked at my dress and frowned to see small patches of dirt on it. "I can only assume you two were attacked then dragged to your location were you awoke. As for the Pokémon that attacked you..." he said looking at the soil again. "It's probably an electric type. Or a weak dragon or fire type Pokémon. The scorch marks aren't dark enough to be a full power dragon or fire type Pokémon." Adam explained. "Then again it could be any type of Pokémon just using one of those types of moves..." he added with an afterthought. "It doesn't really look like there was much sign of a struggle though..." he muttered to himself.

"Why don't we see where the drag marks led?" I asked.

"Not a bad idea. Glad I thought of it!" Adam said happily causing to glare at him. We followed the drag marks (well Adam did no matter how hard I tried I couldn't see any drag marks) and eventually reached a familiar looking tree and lake. It was where Billy and I woke up. I hadn't had much chance to look at it when I had woken up but now that I could it was truly beautiful. The sunlight glittered of the lake like fireflies were playing above it. A cool breeze passed through the spot and the tree casted lots of shade to rest beneath. Under different circumstance I would love to take a break here. Adam began examining the ground and took several more notes in his notebook. "What Pokémon do you guys have?" Adam asked.

"Um... I have a Pichu, Nidorino, Kadabra, Eevee and a Cubone..." Billy said counting on his fingers.

"I have a Wartortle and a Growlithe..." I said hesitantly. "Um..." I said hesitantly realising we had forgot Shadow and Harry. "I've actually got an Umbreon and a Hoothoot under my care as well right now but they don't belong to me..."

"I see..." Adam said writing down this new information. Adam looked at all the information he had gathered and crossed something out on his note pad.

"It doesn't make sense!" he cried in frustration

"What's wrong?" Billy questioned

"Well from all the evidence I've gathered so far it's almost like you've been attacked twice!" Adam cried with a frown. "You were attacked, then dragged here... then something happened here... and your Pokémon disappeared..."

"But why would we get attacked twice?" Billy asked.

"It's possible that you got attacked first of all when you two were arguing and then an attack knocked you two out... then your Pokémon dragged you to what they thought was a safe location. However you got attacked again possibly by the same culprits and your Pokémon were taken away to an unknown location..." Adam said pondering. "But it still doesn't completely add up..." He muttered to himself "why would there be different footprints there and here?" he questioned himself trailing off.

"But how will we find them now?" I asked with the colour draining out of my face.

"Don't worry." Adam said holding up his Capture Styler. "That's what I'm here for."

**Luke's POV**

"Rescue team?"All of us questioned (expect Harry).

"Yep we protect Pokémon in need!" Ramon explained.

"All for the fee of 3000 Poké!" Katie added causing Ramon to nudge her. "Okay..." she sighed and put on a false cheery cheesy voice. "Seeing your smile is the only reward we need!" She said with a false smile.

"That's good but how exactly do you rescue us?" Liz said with a sigh "I don't remember getting into trouble." She said. Now that I thought about it I didn't remember how we got into trouble either...

"What do you mean?" Ramon asked blinking. "We rescued you from those humans of course!" He cried happily.

"What?" we cried in unison.

"The human kids," Ramon said talking in a slow voice "The ones that imprisoned you in those Poké balls?" He asked oblivious of our group's mouths falling slowly open. "We freed you from them." Ramon finished happily. Felicity started growling loudly.

"No one asked _you,_" she hissed "To free me from Paula." She said walking towards Ramon and Katie.

"Mama... am I imprisoned?" Daniel asked pulling on Liz's tail.

"Of course not." Liz said with a sigh.

"Luke may be vastly inferior to me in every way-"Blaze started

"Hey!" I cried in protest

"But I wouldn't ask for another trainer!" he finished.

"Luke is both my brother and my master." Shadow said with a dark look in his eyes "You can't separate us."

"I chose to stay with Billy and with Billy I'll stay!" Steve cried loyally

"I believe Billy is a most suitable Master to all his Pokémon." Nicolas said pawning at the ground slightly and Harry Fluttered in front of me protectively glaring at the two Pokémon.

"Paula's a good girl... but she's just one of three trainers I've had... one day I'll have a new trainer..." Alice said with a shrug "but I promised that I would stay with my first trainer's family..." She said trailing off.

"I told you they wouldn't understand." Katie muttered to Ramon but my hearing caught it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned.

"We can smell you Pokémon-humans." Kate said inflating slightly glaring fiercely at Liz and me. "I said we shouldn't be affiliated with humans of any kind... but Ramon insisted because you were part Pokémon you could be allies." She said glaring at her partner who looked at the ground. "But any Pokémon that has affiliated with humans doesn't understand! We should have learnt that from the others!"

"Others?" I questioned "Do you mean more like us? Or more Pokémon?"

"Pokémon of course." Katie said to me like I was an idiot.

"Katie...we're outnumbered their going to attack us..." Ramon muttered to her

"Yer..." she said "let's do that thing!" She cried and she opened her mouth... and began to sing? Ramon picked up a leaf and began blowing on it. Despite the tense situation I felt myself grow sleepy and I realised what was happening

"Block you ears!" I cried "they're using..." I yawned "GrassWhistle... and Sing..." my vision went dark and sleep overcame me.

**Billy's POV**

"Capture on!" Adam cried attempting to use his Capture Styler to get a nearby Aipom to help us. A white circle enclosed around the Pokémon and then disappeared. "Capture complete!" Adam said happily and the Aipom jumped on his shoulder. Adam had gathered three Pokémon to help us; a Spearow, a Diglett and lastly an Aipom. "Right." Adam said looking at the small group "This should be enough. Spearow I want you to use your keen eyesight to find these tracks." He said pointing to some drawing he had made in his notebook. Spearow nodded and started flying slowly ahead of us.

"Who do those tracks belong to?" Paula asked

"I'm not too sure..." Adam said "but at that tree they were defiantly there and they're not the tracks of any of the Pokémon you guys said you had... but it's really strange..."

"You said that before..." I pointed out "How is it strange?"

"At the first place you guys were attacked these tracks weren't anywhere near the scene!" He cried "I also asked Taffi and he couldn't pick up any scent of whatever Pokémon was at that tree." Adam said. "At the first place you guys were attacked there were just two other people's footprints there no sign of any other Pokémon. But they couldn't have used an attack on you without a Pokémon... plus there footprints just disappeared with no sign of a flying Pokémon used! Plus in all the other cases there weren't any people involved just Pokémon!" Adam cried and the pieces began to come together in my mind. The two people were obviously Luke and Liz. They had turned into Pokémon for some reason and had dragged us to the tree and lake. I remember Adam saying that the move that knocked us out was either an electric type or weak fire or dragon type... That meant Liz knocked us out! I was going to kill her when I got my hands on her. So they had dragged us to the tree and then what? Got fed up and decided to leave taking all the Pokémon with them? But! Adam had said that something had happen at that tree... whatever had happened all of our Pokémon had been on the receiving end. I looked at Paula and she nodded. She must have come to the same conclusion as me as anger blazed in her eyes.

"Row! Spearow!" Spearow cried stopping in front of a giant cliff.

"So the tracks stop here huh?" Adam said and the Pokémon nodded. "Okay. Thanks for your help." He said and the Spearow flew away. "Now it's your turn." he said nodding at the Diglett. Adam took off his backpack and took out a thick rope. "Here tie this to your waist and make sure its tight." He said passing the rope to us. We tied it around our waists and Adam repeated the action so that all three of us were tied together. "Right we're going to try a rapid upwards Dig." Adam said also tying a rope to the Diglett.

"What?" I and Paula cried in disbelief.

"If we use Dig really fast in a diagonal direction we should be able to reach to top without falling to our deaths." Adam said looking up at the cliff as Paula looked at him in panic.

"Should?" Paula repeated doubtfully her face growing pale.

"We're lucky it's made out of sandstone... any other rock would be impossible to break through." He said smiling. "Think you're up to it Diglett?" Adam questioned the Pokémon who nodded. "Okay then! Three!"

"I'm really not sure about this..." Paula said in panic while I tightened my grip on the rope.

"Two!"

"Do you know what you're doing?" She questioned

"Bit late asking that now..." I muttered

"One!"

"Wait! I don't want my clothes to get muddy!" Paula screeched as we ploughed through the cliff with earth and rocks plugging on my face. We burst out of the top of the cliff gasping for air. "WE'RE ALIVE!" Paula cried happily hugging me causing me to blink. I quickly shoved her off causing her to glare at me. I glared back and it seemed like there were sparks coming from our eyes.

"Now, now kiddies. No fighting." Adam said standing up and untying himself from us. "Now for the last one." He said looking over the cliff. I looked over and gasped inside the cliff was a small forest area. "Aipom I want you to cover this forest and report back to me if you find Billy or Paula's Pokémon. It shouldn't be a problem with your climbing skills." Adam said and Aipom nodded and started climbing down the cliff into the small forest.

"Adam..." Paula said hesitantly "I've been thinking about this for a while now... but did you bring those three Pokémon with us intentionally?"

"Hmmm?" Adam said with raised eyebrows "What gives you that idea?" He questioned.

"They each have skills necessary for getting into and exploring this enclosed forest." She stated.

"You're right." Adam admitted. "I've been trying to find where the missing Pokémon have been going for a while now. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't find the culprits in the bigger forest. So I quickly came to the conclusion that they were using an area hidden in the forest were the Pokémon they kidnapped couldn't escape! I thought about it for a while... no of the tracks led back to a cave so that ruled that out... there wasn't any water at any of the scenes so that ruled out lakes and other water habitats... there was no signs of dig being used so that ruled out underground... so they had to be somewhere far up either on the treetops or on a cliff!" He cried

"You managed to figure that out all from tracks?" I cried in amazement

"Well that and the accounts from all the trainers..." Adam said with a shrug

"Ai pom!" A voice cried and we saw the purple monkey running up to us.

"Wow that was fast." I said in aware

"Good job." Adam said "We're going to stop the people or Pokémon behind this!" Adam cried in determination.

"Right." Paula and I said.

**Luke's POV**

I got up slowly in a cage made of bamboo. I really need to stop waking up in strange places... I looked around and saw Liz standing next to me.

"Don't bother trying to break the cage. I've already tried." She said looking at me. I looked around the cave and gasped at the sight. There were hundreds of Poké balls inside in a big pile.

"Where's Shadow?" I questioned in panic looking for my starter.

"I'm not sure..." Liz said "he's probably somewhere in there..." She said gesturing to the huge pile.

"They put him inside a Poké ball?" I questioned in anger. "How could they? And they said they had rescued us from what? A place where we chose to be!" I cried in anger and Liz sighed.

"No point getting worked up about it..." she said. "First we need to get out of here then we can get angry."

"You're right." I said reluctantly and my stomach groaned. "In all this excitement I forgot I haven't eaten since this morning..." I said lying down.

"You'll eat if you stay away from those trainers." A harsh voice said from the entrance. We looked up and saw Katie glaring at us with Ramon following behind her staring at the ground.

"Good luck with that seeing as I am a trainer." I said smugly

"Okay I'll stay away from them." Liz said putting up her hands in a surrender gesture.

"What?" I cried in surprise.

"Humph! As if we'll believe you so easily!" Katie cried "Like Luke said! You two are humans as well!"

"Damn." Liz said "And I was hoping you'd be stupid enough to give us something to eat..." She said with a big grin causing Katie to puff up in anger.

"Why you-"she said growing slightly bigger.

"Hey I can see a cave!" Billy cried. Wait... what was Billy doing here?

"The culprits that have been taking the Pokémon must be in there!" Paula cried. So she was here too...

"We'll bring them to justice!" An unknown voice cried.

"Humans!" Katie hissed in anger before jumping out of the cave.

"Sorry about Katie..." Ramon said unhappily before turning around.

"Wait!" I cried in anger causing Ramon to stop. "You really think sorry is enough? You kidnapped innocent Pokémon! Locked us in cages! Put my best friend in a Poké ball when he hates it in there! And you still call yourself a rescue team?" I cried in anger

"Well you don't know what we've been through!" Ramon shouted and he turned and I saw tears in his eyes. "I was abandoned here by my trainer! So was Katie! You don't know the pain of rejection!" he cried his tears running down his face. "She was hatched from an egg... and abandoned when she evolved..." He sniffed his head hanging low. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT'S LIKE?" He screamed at us causing me to flinch. "BEING ABANDONED BY YOUR PARENT? THE ONE YOU LOVED AND TRUSTED ABSOLUTELY? BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT KATIE HAD TO GO THROUGH!" he screamed "AND I WAS ABANDONED HERE FROM THE HEONN REGION! DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE BEING DUMPED IN A FOREIGN REGION?" He yelled gasping for breath.

"Do you know what it's like?" Liz questioned darkly. "Being forcibly ripped from your trainer by some Pokémon who didn't even ask you if you wanted to leave? Being trapped forever in a tiny sphere? Because that's what all the Pokémon you imprisoned in their Poké balls feel like!" She cried gesturing to the huge pile behind her causing Ramon to flinch.

"I-"he said "I must go..." he cried running out of the cave. I noticed something on the ground and nudged Liz.

"He's left us a berry..." I said in astonishment reaching for the small item. "I guess he's not as bad as he seems..."

"They only doing this because they thinking all trainers are evil based on the actions of one..." Liz said rolling her eyes while splitting the berry in half. It seemed like her half was a bit smaller but I didn't get a proper look before she ate it. I quickly swallowed my bit as well.

"How are we going to get out of this cave?" I questioned out loud.

"Something tells me we don't have to worry about that..." Liz said pointing to the pile of Poké balls. I looked at them and realised something. They were shaking. Most of the Poké balls in the pile were shaking violently. "The Pokémon want to get out. They want to go back to their trainers." Liz said as I looked on with amazement. The Poké balls at the top of the pile fell off and hit the bottom releasing the Pokémon inside. They were just common Pokémon like Rattata and Pidgey but they made me grin. The Pokémon went about freeing the others while the Rattata started gnawing through our cage. Within minutes we and a lot of the Pokémon from their Poké balls were free. We headed out of the cave with our army of Pokémon following us.

**Paula's POV**

We followed the Aipom as it swung over the trees.

"Hey I can see a cave!" Billy cried suddenly pointing further ahead. I looked up to see a small cave.

The culprits that have been taking the Pokémon must be in there!" I cried.

"We'll bring them to justice!" Adam cried. "Thank you Aipom we can handle it from here." Adam said smiling at the Pokémon who nodded and swung away. Suddenly Taffi began barking loudly. "What is it?" Adam questioned and Taffi continued to bark. Suddenly a pink rolling ball came bursting over the trees. "Aerial Ace!" Adam cried quickly and Taffi began glowing in a white light and had a sudden burst of speed and attacked the pink rolling ball. It fell from the sky and landed on its feet. It looked up and revealed itself to be a... Jigglypuff! It was so cute! I shook my head. This wasn't the time for that. the Jigglypuff opened its mouth and began to sing. I began feeling very sleepy and the world began to turn dark. Suddenly I heard a loud screeching noise and I winced in pain. I turned to see Adam fiddling with a walkie-talkie on his shoulder. So that was what was making the racket! Adam was using the walkie-talkie to drown out Jigglypuff song. "Well that explains the strange noise..." Adam said "This Pokémon is defiantly the culprit! Taffi use Thunderbolt!" the Herdier began charging up with electricity and fired it at the Jigglypuff who inflated with air and floated into the sky dodging the attack. Then it released the air in one go heading towards Taffi like a rocket. "Dig!" Adam cried as Taffi burrowed into the ground causing the Jigglypuff to bounce into the earth. "I need the Pokémon to stand still so I can get a decent shot with the Capture Styler!" Adam cried in frustration.

"Leave that to us!" I cried and Billy nodded and we both charged towards the Jigglypuff.

"Don't do it its dangerous!" Adam cried. The Jigglypuff began spinning on the ground rapid ally spinning with a metallic glow.

"That's Gyro ball!" Adam cried in surprise. As the Pokémon shot towards us and Billy leapt and caught causing him to fly backwards.

"You're not getting away!" He cried and I grabbed the spinning Pokémon causing my hands to burn. Together we wrestled it to the ground.

"Now!" We cried

"CAPTURE!" Adam cried pointing his Capture Styler toward the Pokémon.

"Nuzleaf!" a Pokémon cried knocking the device out of Adam's hands just as the Jigglypuff burst out of our grasp.

"So you've finally appeared huh?" Adam said nursing his hand "The two Pokémon behind the kidnappings! Jigglypuff and Nuzleaf!" he cried looking at the two Pokémon who stood side by side. "Now that we have to battle two of them it's going to be rough!" Adam cried to his Pokémon "But we can't let them get away!" Taffi nodded in determination. "Use Thunderbolt on both of them!" Taffi began charging up with electricity and fired a powerful Thunderbolt at the Pokémon. They both leapt high into the air and the Nuzleaf dived towards Taffi slamming into him. Then the Jigglypuff slammed into Taffi using a rollout attack.

"It's too much!" I cried in panic as Taffi stood up weakly.

"We just need one moment!" Adam said picking up his Styler and holding in front of himself. Suddenly a massive crowd of Pokémon came running/flying towards us. "What?" Adam questioned in disbelief. In the middle of the crowd I saw a familiar looking Pichu and Eevee.

"Its Luke and Liz!" Billy cried happily and I spotted all our other Pokémon as the mob came towards us.

"And the rest of our Pokémon!" I said as Felicity jumped into my arms and licked my cheek and Alice smiled softly. While Billy's Pokémon stood protectively in front of him. The large group of Pokémon surrounded the Jigglypuff and Nuzleaf and they took a nervous step back.

"Okay Taffi use Thunderbolt on the Capture Styler!" Adam cried and the Herdier unleashed a powerful Thunderbolt onto the device. "Now! EN MASS CAPTURE! ELECTRIC POWER!" Adam cried unleashing the Styler towards the large group.

**Liz's POV**

Wow this guy was cheesy. But what he did worked as the spinning top producing electricity surrounded our large group. I felt myself grow calmer and I saw Ramon smiling. The spinning top surrounded our group of Pokémon and disappeared.

"Capture complete!" the boy in red cried "I hope..." he muttered. "You Pokémon! You shouldn't be kidnapping others! Come with me and I'll give you another chance!" he cried holding his hand out to Ramon and Katie causing the two of them to blink. "I believe no Pokémon is truly evil! You guys must have had a good reason for kidnapping the Pokémon!"

"Nope I say we just give them a massive thrashing." Blaze said angrily causing Luke to whack him with his tail.

"I..." Ramon said hesitantly

"What you're not actually considering teaming up with this human are you?" Katie said in disbelief "Don't forget it's you and me against the trainers of the world! Were the only ones who can save them from our fates! We're Knights that protect the Pokémon remember?" she yelled. She sounded like she was about to cry.

"But..." Ramon said hesitantly "Look at them all..." He said gesturing to the huge crowd of Pokémon and he shook his head. "I had my doubts before but now I know! What we're doing is wrong!" He cried running up to the boy with red clothes.

"Ramon you're abandoning me too?" Katie yelled with tears in her eyes.

"I'm not abandoning you! I'm doing what's right! We can be true knights if we go with this boy!" Ramon cried

"There's no way..." Katie said trembling "I'm not putting my trust in a human again!" she cried and the white light that had encircled her burst out of her body and into the trees.

"It managed to break out of capture?" Adam cried in disbelief.

"You're going to pay!" Katie cried.

"If we can figure out what's wrong maybe we can calm it down!" Paula cried

"You up for a little role play Lizzy?" Luke questioned grinning

"Not really..." I said hesitantly

"Great!" Luke cried and he dragged me in front of Billy and Paula. I sighed and pointed to Katie (who was in the middle of an epic battle with all Pokémon from the cave) and then lifted Luke up (with some difficultly) and threw him to the ground.

"Are you trying to say...?" Billy said "that that Jigglypuff..." He said with wide eyes "... threw Luke away!" He gasped and I felt like hitting my head on the ground several times. Instead I settled for shaking my head.

"Huh no?" Billy said rubbing his chin "Then what could be wrong with it..." He pondered. I sighed and picked up a nearby Poké ball (All the Pokémon from the cave had conveniently taken their Poké balls with them but in the chaos most had been dropped). I then pointed to the Jigglypuff then to the Poké ball and threw the ball away. "That Jigglypuff was thrown away by its trainer?" Billy cried in horror and disbelief.

"Bingo. Give the boy a prize." I said doing a slow clap.

"Well that certainly explains a lot of things..." The boy in red said "But right now that Jigglypuff is in a highly emotional state. The Capture Styler won't work. I need to get it to calm down."

"How are you going to do that without the Styler Adam?" Paula asked.

"I'm going to reason with it! Everyone!" He cried attracting the attention of all the Pokémon. "Stop attacking that Jigglypuf! And Jigglypuff hear me out! Yes you were mistreated by your trainer but that doesn't stop you living your life!" Adam cried at Katie.

"Shut up!" Katie cried "You don't know what it's like! Being kept by a trainer who raised me from an egg! I thought they cared until I evolved and they ditched me!"

"There are bad trainers and bad Pokémon! My mum was killed by a Pokémon! Every time I think about it and her I feel anger at the rampaging Pokémon that destroyed our home! It turns out that Pokémon was only rampaging because a fire had destroyed its home! Theres no point staying angry it won't change the past! But you can make sure the same thing can never happen to other people or Pokémon. You should use your feelings to help other Pokémon and people in distress!" Adam cried like he could understand Katie.

"..Use my feelings..." Katie said the shook her head "Your pleas won't save you now human!" Suddenly she was tackled into the ground by Ramon.

"Katie..." he said hanging his head low and I saw tear running down his cheeks. "Please stop... your hurting everyone... but you're hurting yourself the most..." He said his eyes filled with tears and Katie's eyes widened. "Please..." He sobbed into her shoulder and she pulled him into a hug.

"It's okay Ramon..." She said rubbing his back as he cried into her shoulder "I'm sorry..." Katie said "you're the only one who stuck by me all this time..." she said "I've been a rubbish friend... and an even worse knight..."she said while Ramon sniffed and looked at her with hopeful eyes. "So how do you think I should make up for it?" She asked him grinning.

"I have an idea..." Ramon said quietly smiling. He stood up and pulled Katie towards Adam who grinned at both of them.

"Looks like you guys are going to ranger academy." He said causing the two Pokémon to blush and look at the ground.

"Wow. I guess it's all well that ends well huh?" Paula said happily

"Well there's still the mystery of the two people's footprints near the place you guys were first attacked..." Adam pointed out

"Um..." Billy said quickly "I don't think you need to worry about that probably just some passing trainers or something... in fact I'm pretty sure I saw a few trainers nearby..." Billy said causing Adam to raise his eyebrows and me to look innocently at the ground. I hope Billy and Paula didn't realise it was me who attacked them first of all...

"Really?" He questioned his voice sounded like he didn't believe Billy.

"Ranger Adam!" A voice called from a walkie-talkie attached to Adam's shoulder called interrupting the conversation. Adam took off the device and held it up too his mouth.

"This is Ranger Adam. What's the situation Base?" he questioned the device.

"There's been an outbreak of unusually violent Pokémon on the cycling road-"the voice said and there was a load sound of static coming from the device.

"Hello? Hello? Base do you copy?" Adam questioned and the sound of static faded out.

"Ranger Adam," the voice said "sorry we just lost our signal for a moment. We've just received a message from the person who contacted us saying it was a false alarm anyway." The voice said without emotion. "For now just continue with your ranger duties."

"Roger." Adam said "Over and out." He said putting the device back on his shoulder. "I hope you guys stay safe on your journey." He said smiling at us. "I'm going to return these Pokémon back to their rightful owners." Adam said looking at the big group of Pokémon.

"Of course!" Billy cried

"Thank you so much for helping us get our Pokémon back!" Paula cried happily

"No problem!" Adam said with a grin "Protect the environment! Make sure you don't litter when camping!" he said causing us to sweat drop. "See you guys later!" Adam cried running off into the forest with the crowd of Pokémon following him.

"What's that Charmander doing here?" Paula question and Luke began to glow a brilliant white and turned back into a human.

"That's Blaze a Pokémon I hatched from an egg. I wanted to introduce him before but there was never a good moment..." Luke said rubbing the back of his head before returning the Charmander and his Hoothoot back in their Poké balls. "Sorry I couldn't protect you from the Poké ball either Shadow..." He said affectionately patting his starter on the head.

"It's okay Master. It couldn't be helped." Shadow said with a shrug. I notice Billy and Paula return their respective Pokémon out of the corner of my eye.

"Its okay you kept Blaze from us you must have had a good reason after all." Paula said with a smile.

"Yep!" Billy agreed with a grin. "And now its next stop Vermillion city!"Billy cried happily "But before that..." he said turning to glare at me causing me to flinch. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU LIZ!" He cried chasing after me as I ran into the forest.

"I just wanted a holiday!" I cried in panic.

***- I couldn't be bothered to put in 9 lines of "I'm whoever" sorry.**

_**I wanted to do a chapter focusing on the Pokémon from a while now so I decided on something like this. Though it didn't turn out as well as I hoped... I can always try again... Next chapter is the city and the characters are going to see two old faces and two new faces **_

_**I was actually thinking for the previous chapter to have the ending for the egg family something like this:**_

"EGG!" They cried and they ran away into the forest to cause trouble for someone else another day.

_**I didn't really want to give an: everyone lives happily ending because not all these situations would end well... here the ending I was thinking about giving only I thought it wouldn't be very likely ending. So here's how Evolution has to be well Exeggcute'd ended for the egg family! This was written in about 15 minutes don't judge me for not dragging out conversations or for making it too cheesy...**_

_**Mystery Exeggcute head's POV**_

I bounced through the forest enjoying the sun at my back. I inhaled the fresh air deeply and then stopped. I thought I could smell burning... but there wasn't any smoke coming from the trees and my psychic ability hadn't picked up that there might be any problems in the area. I shrugged***** and decided to check out the burning smell. I bounced along until I located the source. A group of five (slight charred) Exeggcute were grumbling between themselves. I blinked in surprise. I hadn't expected to see any other Exeggcute here never mind a group of only five...

"I told you guys we shouldn't have gone after that egg when it hatched." One egg cried "but no you just didn't listen to me did you?" It cried

"Okay, okay we heard you the first million times Eg!" Another head cried crossly.

"Stupid pink dress girl and her stupid Growlithe..." another egg sulked

"Um..." I spoke up causing the five heads to turn to me. "Is everything alright?" the eggs grinned and a light sparkled in their eyes.

"I think it will be." The most cracked egg said bouncing up to me.

"Easy Egenezer..." another egg said bouncing up to the egg. "We don't want some trainers chasing after us again..." it said frowning.

"Yer... if I have to a reflect with only five eggs again my yolk might spill!" the egg named Eg complained

"Fine..." Egenezer said with a sigh. "Do you want to egg-volve with us?" he said bluntly causing me to blink "as you can see we're an egg short..." He said with a sigh

"Really?" I replied my eyes shining causing the five eggs to blink in confusion. "I've always wanted to egg-volve!" I cried happily

"Y-you have?" an egg stuttered in surprise.

"Yes!" I cried happily bouncing around. "You guys have no idea what it's been like!" I said tears on the edge of my eyes "living in a group of five female Exeggcute when you're the only boy and the only one who wants to egg-volve!" I cried.

"W-well it's a bit ironic to be honest..." an egg said looking at me in surprise "because we were in the egg-act opposite situation..."

"You were?" I said in surprise "WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF THAT HAPPENING?" I cried in amazement.

"Does this mean we can all egg-volve together?" an egg questioned hopefully and Egenezer nodded happily.

"But before we egg-volve," Egenezer started causing me to look at him "I think we need to find our sister Egna. Then she can live happily with your sisters." He said looking at me and I nodded.

"That seems like a great idea." I said happily and we formed a group of six Exeggcute and a feeling of completeness washed over me. We bounce happily toward the setting sun to live happily egg-ver after.

*- Well, as well as an egg without shoulders or arms can shrug. Which it turns out isn't very well...

_**Is everyone happy now? Good! So we can move on!**_

_**As for sequels the more I think about it the more likely I am to have one... it's not a 100% possibility more like 60% or so... I have thought of a few ideas for chapters for a sequel which would probably be the same length as this story when it's finished. The sequel will also contain the origins of all the cursed Pokémon and feature a slightly older cast (Billy and Paula would either be 11 or 12, Luke and Liz would be 17 or 18) so would have lots of hormones everywhere. As for a prequel I've also thought about that but not as much as a sequel so the chances for the prequel would probably be less... the prequel would showcase the start and rise of the black fog organisation and would be a lot shorter than this story and showcase completely different characters with one exception. None of the main characters would be in it though or even mentioned because it would take place about 10-15 years before this story... If I decide to make these they won't be published though until I've finished this for obvious reasons. But if I do decide to make a sequel I've already decided to name it Shocks, Static and Sparks. I can't reveal the name of the possible prequel for plot line reasons. There will be a long wait for the next chapter so you'll need to be patient. But once the next chapter is done we'll start to see some action **_


	32. Rivals come in with the tide!

Disclaimer- I don't own Pokémon... or Gary... or Skyla... or Luke... But I own everyone else... in this chapter

Rivals come in with the tide

**Liz's POV**

"Are we there yet?" Paula asked/ moaned as we walked down yet another dirt path surrounded by green fields. I swear we've walked down this same path about a million times now.

"Yer... I want get to my gym match..." Billy said in exhaustion. When he had heard Vermilion Citywas nearby he took off like a rocket and wasted all his energy. He looked a bit pale as well...

"You guys are scaring off all the Pokémon!" Luke said with his face pressed up against his camera while he turned to the trees desperately trying to take photos of the Pokémon flying/ running away. "We should be there soon." He said sighing putting down his camera knowing his efforts were futile.

"You did say that an hour ago..." I pointed out with raised eyebrows. The last thing wanted to be was lost and it would be embarrassing if we were lost on this basically straight path. Shadow who was walking slightly ahead of us stopped suddenly and sniffed the air.

"What is it Shadow?" Luke asked his Pokémon.

"Master Luke I can smell the ocean and a human settlement ahead." Shadow said causing me and Luke to perk up.

"What are we waiting for let's go then!" Luke proclaimed causing Billy and Paula to look at him in confusion.

"Err… why are you so excited?" Paula asked in confusion

"I've done a lot of thinking about it and I've decided to challenge the gym in this city!" Luke said his eyes shining.

"You have?" Billy, Paula and I said in unison.

"Have you even done a gym battle before?" I questioned with raised eyebrows

"Of course! I have four gym badges!" Luke proclaimed

"I thought you only do Pokémon photography..." Paula said with confusion

"Well... I have been travelling for three years doing Pokémon photography isn't the only thing I've done in all that time. I only challenged some gyms to see if they had any information about the Pokémon that cursed me or cursed Pokémon in general ... of course none of the gyms I challenged and asked had a clue." Luke said with a sigh "I also competed in one or two contest for fun..." Luke added smiling.

"Did you win?" Paula asked her interest perked

"No... But I got pretty close once or twice... I got some pretty amazing photos from those contests so it wasn't all bad." Luke said with a big smile.

"So why challenge the gym again now?" I asked with raised eyebrows

"I just feel like my team are a bit out of touch with training." Luke said grinning and I sighed softly. Luke was probably only challenging the gym to get Billy motivated again. The closer we got to Vermillion City the quieter Billy had been. Luke was probably thinking that the thought of a gym rival would snap Billy out of his slump. But I just saw Billy kicking at the ground with his head hanging. Evidently Luke's gym challenge hadn't affected him. We continued to walk in silence and within a few minutes we had reached the city and we encountered a massive market full of people trading, buying and selling different items or Pokémon.

"Have I got just the deal for you?" One of the men yelled as we walked past "Buy this healthy rare Magikarp yours today for only £500! See the way its scales glisten in the sun! I personally guarantee you won't find another Magikarp like it! Just £500!" a salesman yelled next to a container full of identical red Pokémon.

"Buy Umbra hats, Umbra shoes, Umbra coats! You want it the Umbra Company has it! The Umbra Company is located in every major city across Kanto today!" another salesman yelled.

"Hot dogs! Get your Hot dogs! Get 'em while they're warm!" Another voice yelled.

"Wow it's so busy..." Paula said in aware while shoving her way past people.

"This is the major port of Kanto. Goods come in through the harbour and get delivered to the major cities like Saffron and Celadon and then they're sold across the world." Luke explained

"Join the Pokémon fan club today only £100000!" an old man yelled.

"Of course because of that lots of people are very rich and own their own hotels and boats and stuff..." Luke added. Eventually we reach a big square where a small crowd of people had gathered.

"What's going on here?" Billy questioned his voice sounding a bit croaky.

"Linoone use Surf!" A feminine voice cried.

"Must be a battle…" Paula said and we started shoving our way through the crowd and saw a girl with wavy sky blue hair and blue eyes wearing small shorts and a tank top commanding an unfamiliar Pokémon. She also had an Espeon standing besides her and I saw Shadow looking at his fellow Eeveelution with curiosity.

"Smoochum use Ice Beam!" a boy of about Luke and mine age cried. He was wearing a t-shirt with jeans and had small rectangle glasses. His hair was black with a few spikes in it and he had brown eyes. The Linoone started glowing blue and made a giant wave appear out of nowhere crashing towards the small pink Pokémon. The Smoochum unleashed a pale blue beam completely freezing the wave. "Now slide on the ice!" The boy cried and the Smoochum began sliding towards the Linoone with surprising speed. "Jump and Spin!" he cried and the Smoochum jumped off the top off the frozen wave and began spinning. "Now land elegantly!" the boy cried and the Smoochum landed with a bow causing most of the crowd to murmur with surprise.

"Nice contest technique!" The girl cried

"Contest?" Paula questioned out loud

"But fairly pointless if it doesn't amount to anything at the end." She added oblivious to us in the crowd. "Also if we were in the middle of the battle round I could have easily attacked you." She added causing the boy to raise his eyebrows.

"Care to demonstrate?" He questioned

"Let's repeat that move again!" The girl explained

"Okay then Smoochum come over here!" The boy cried causing his Pokémon to run back to him. "Now slide on the ice towards Linoone!" the Smoochum began sliding toward the Linoone again slowing heading up the ice wave. "Jump and Spin!" the boy cried causing the Smoochum to leap off the wave.

"Use Quick Attack!" the girl cried quickly and the Linoone leapt into the air with a burst of speed. It slammed into the Smoochum causing it to crash into the ice wave and slide down it to the ground.

"You okay Smoochum?" The boy questioned in panic. He then sighed with relief as his Pokémon got back to its feet. "I see what you mean..." the boy said to the girl hesitantly. "But there's a few flaws in you strategy as well Skyla!" the boy cried.

"Hey Lizzy doe that guy look familiar to you?" Luke questioned me and I shrugged.

"He doesn't ring any bells…" I said staring at him for a moment for switching my attention back to the field.

"Care to demonstrate?" Skyla questioned the boy raising an eyebrow with a small mocking smile.

"Smoochum let's do this once more!" the boy cried and his Pokémon nodded. "Use the same strategy as before!" he cried as his Pokémon began sliding up to the top of the ice wave and jumped off spinning.

"We'll use Quick Attack again!" Skyla cried as her Pokémon leapt up into the air to meet the spinning Pokémon.

"Quickly use your speed to deliver a powerful Ice Punch!" the boy cried as the small Pokémon's fist began to glow blue and it punched Linoone in the stomach causing its eyes to widen in surprise and the spot where it hit to freeze over slightly.

"Linoone use Headbutt!" Skyla cried in panic causing the Pokémon to slam its head on the small Smoochum causing it to crash into the frozen wave again as Linoone felled to the floor with a thud. Both Pokémon had swirls in their eyes and the crowd began clapping. "One more Pokémon each. Let's do this seriously this time." Skyla said with a small smile returning her fainted Pokémon. The boy nodded in agreement to her statement returning his own Pokémon. "You're up Vanessa." She said as her Espeon walked calmly onto the field.

"Go Jolteon!" the boy cried releasing the spiky electric type Eeveelution causing the crowd to murmur. It wasn't very often you saw a battle between Eeveelutions and I noticed Shadow looked particularly interested. "Jolteon use Pin Missile!" The boy cried as his Pokémon fired thousands of tiny black needles toward the Espeon.

"Use Psychic!" Skyla cried and the Espeon's eyes began glowing blue and the red jewel on its head shone as well. The needles stopped in their tracks and immediately sped back towards the Jolteon.

"Thunderbolt!" the boy cried and Jolteon unleashed a powerful electric type move destroying all the needles. "Now use Double Team and Agility!" the boy cried and the Jolteon shimmered and I saw myself looking at five copies of the same Pokémon. They all began speeding towards the Espeon.

"Use your powers to detect the real one and hit it with a Psybeam!" Skyla cried and the Espeon closed its eyes and raised its spilt tail slightly higher in the air. The Jolteons carried on running towards the Espeon as its jewel shone brightly. Its eyes snapped open and it glanced at the one on the far right.

"Use Thunderbolt!" The boy cried and his Pokémon unleashed its attack just before the Espeon unleashed its Psybeam causing the Espeon to cry out in pain. Skyla gritted her teeth in annoyance and panic.

"You okay Vanessa?" she questioned causing her Pokémon to stand up.

"Of course." She said calmly and Skyla smiled with relief. It looked like the Espeon stole a quick glance at Luke and me but it was so brief that I probably imagined it.

"Okay then use Psychic on Jolteon!" Skyla cried and Vanessa's eyes began glowing blue and the Jolteon was lifted into the air and slammed into the ground. I winced in sympathy having experienced the same thing a few weeks ago only into a wall, curtsy of that Alakazam in Saffron.

"Jolteon!" The boy cried in panic as the Pokémon was picked up by Psychic again and slammed back into the floor. "Use Thunderbolt and Pin Needle!" he cried and the Pokémon unleashed powerful blast of electricity guided by the needles in many different directions. It was really lucky that no one in the crowd was hit. But the Espeon nearly was and had to jump out the way of several electric needles breaking her focus on the Jolteon. "Agility!" the boy cried causing the Jolteon to run rapidly towards Espeon.

"Use Reflect!" Skyla cried and a pinkish barrier appeared in front of Jolteon causing it to slam painfully into it, unable to stop due to its speed. "Psybeam!" Skyla cried.

"Thunderbolt!" the boy cried quickly. The two attacks collided creating a powerful explosion and I had to quickly grab my hat to prevent it blowing away. The two trainers looked at the battle field in worry as the smoke began to clear. When it had cleared the Jolteon was laying on the ground with swirls in its eyes while the Espeon was standing looking smug. The crowd erupted into cheers causing Skyla and Vanessa to blush. The boy returned his Pokémon with a smile and walked up to Skyla.

"That was a great battle." He said offering his hand towards her.

"We just won it by a little bit Peter." Skyla said in modesty shaking his hand. An alarm bell went off in my head when she said his name. I quickly shook it off. After all _that _Peter was far away in another region, thankfully. There's no way he'd be here now I thought to myself with a smile.

"Hi there." Vanessa said walking up to Shadow while the two trainers were distracted. "I normally don't get to see others of my species, so seeing two in one day is really special!" She said with a smile.

"I know that feeling." Shadow said with a chuckle. "I barely see any other Eeveelutions. Which is quite strange, considering we're one of the most popular types of Pokémon..." he said with a smile. Vanessa chuckled at that.

"Most of us are owned by rich people who can afford rarer Pokémon and they're never used for anything." She pointed out pulling a face. "I was lucky to get a nice trainer…" she said smiling at Skyla who was still talking to Peter.

"Luke's like my brother…" Shadow admitted with a smile (causing Luke to look quite happy) "I do worry about my brothers and sisters I left behind in the forest sometimes though..." Shadow admitted causing Vanessa to raise her eyebrows.

"Back in Hoenn Eevee prides are quite rare so most of the time they're very small... I only have one sister... still I miss her a lot… even more now that we're in a different region!" Vanessa said looking a bit sad. "Still… I know she's smart enough to stay out of trouble!" Vanessa said with a smile. She then looked at me and Luke and raised her eyebrows. "I can't believe you've met two Pokémon-humans!" She cried in excitement causing Luke to choke.

"You know about people like us?" he asked amazement causing her to shrug.

"Well not directly… my grandmother used to tell me tales about the Black Eevee that travelled the world, cursing the humans and making sure that the world stayed on the right track. Apparently it was a story told down through my ancestors! I always knew it was true!" Vanessa said smiling at Luke in amazement oblivious to his paling face. "I've never met any people that have received the curse! And you've got the black Eevee's curse!" Vanessa cried in amazement causing to two of us to look at the pavement.

"Liz..." Luke muttered "How could that Espeon's ancestors known about the black Eevee?... Assuming her grandmother had a normal life span…but plus all the ancestors…. that would still make that Eevee over a hundred years old! And that's unheard of!" Luke whispered in shock.

"I don't know…" I muttered I locked eyes with the Espeon and attempted to sound casual. "So have you heard any stories about a white Pichu?" I questioned and Vanessa looked at me in confusion.

"Nope… I've never heard any stories about that one sorry…"she said sadly causing me to sigh. "I have heard stories about the Amethyst Ninetails though!" She said causing me to look up at her in confusion. "what?" She questioned in bewilderment sensing our confusion "I'm surprised the ones who got the curse don't know the stories…" she said muttering at the ground.

"Could you please tell us?" Luke questioned nicely.

"I don't really like that story though…" Vanessa said biting her lip.

"Please?" Luke questioned.

"Well….."

"Vanessa there you are!" Skyla cried happily causing the three of us to flinch. "I was worried someone might have kidnapped you or something when I realised you weren't nearby!" Skyla said with relief hugging the Pokémon.

"Good thing she didn't get too far huh Skyla?" the boy from the battle, Peter, said walking up to us.

"Yer… it's so hard to keep track of things in this big crowd…." Skyla said petting her Pokémon. "An Umbreon!" She cried in amazement bending down to Shadow's eye level "I've never seen one before!" She said happily scratching under Shadow's chin causing him to purr. "Thanks for looking after Vanessa here. I'm Skyla by the way." She said smiling at us.

"I'm Peter…" Peter said looking at me and Luke (but mainly me) with a slight frown.

"I'm Luke," Luke said with a smile "Vanessa was no trouble really just making friends with Shadow here." He said gesturing to the Umbreon.

"So he's yours?" Skyla cried in amazement "you've obviously looked after him really well!" She said causing Luke to look away bashfully.

"I'm Liz…" I said awkwardly feeling somehow left out of the conversation.

"I'm Paula!" Paula piped in smiling. I had almost forgotten that she and Billy were there… "Did you say something about the contest before?" She questioned Peter with excitement.

"That's right!" He said turning to her smiling. "I'm hoping to compete in this contest!" He said his eyes shining behind his glasses.

"Really? Me too!" Paula cried happily.

"I'll make sure not to go easy on you then." Peter said with a smile as the two shook hands.

"Who are you?" Skyla questioned with a smile noticing the fourth member of our party.

"I'm Billy…" Billy muttered quietly causing the four of us (who knew him) to look at him in confusion. He wasn't acting like his normal annoying self causing me to look at him with concern. He didn't look so bad just a bit pale….

"You okay?" Paula questioned taking the words right out of my mind. Billy snapped up and nodded.

"Of course I am!" He cried his voice sounding a bit croaky. "I'm fine!" He said clearing his throat while nodding rapidly.

"Well… if you say so…" I said after a long pause.

"So where are you guys from?" Luke questioned awkwardly throwing worried looks at Billy.

"We both come from Hoenn!" Skyla said happily. "We met on the boat on the way here and now whenever we see each other we hold friendly practice battles!" Skyla said with a grin.

"I originally come from Windswept Valley though..." Peter said with a smile.

"YOU WHAT?" Luke and I cried in amazement.

"I come from Windswept Valley…" Peter repeated in confusion.

"… You don't have any strange ears or tails do you?" I questioned cautiously.

"What?" Peter questioned in confusion.

"Nothing." I said quickly. Peter raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"Why is it so significant that I came from Windswept Valley?" he questioned.

"It's just that... I and Liz came from Windswept Valley too!" Luke said with a smile.

"No way…." Peter said. "I knew I recognised you guys from somewhere!" He cried in amazement causing us to blink. "Don't you guys remember? We hung out until we were ten! Then I moved to Hoenn!" He cried in amazement and I felt the colour drain out of my face. "I can't believe I almost forgot your beautiful face Elizabeth." He said cupping my chin and lifted it up. I sighed deeply and kicked him in 'the place where the sun don't shine' causing him to whimper in pain (and Billy and Luke to flinch in understanding). "Glad you haven't forgotten…" he whimpered before collapsing to the ground. Skyla, Billy and Paula looked at me in confusion while Luke shook his head in despair.

"Let's just say I'm not exactly ecstatic to see him again." I said pointing my thumb at the teen who was still on the ground rolling around in pain. They blinked but didn't question me. I sighed deeply. Why couldn't annoyances just stay out the way?

**Paula's POV**

This was one of the times I was very glad I had been born female. Though I didn't exactly understand Liz's reasons for kicking Peter 'down there' he had recovered relatively quickly. We had discovered that though because Peter and I were going to the contest hall our group had decided to travel together. Though seeing Liz's glare made it look like she was going to kick Peter again. Shadow and Vanessa had really kicked it off and were having a friendly chat in Poké speak. We had learnt that even though Skyla and Peter were friendly rivals Skyla was in fact going around Kanto to get badges. She had even competed in the Hoenn league before coming to Kanto. It might have been my imagination but Skyla looked slightly upset when she was telling us this. She had already beaten the Vermillion Leader earlier today but was staying in town to watch her old friend in the contest (and help him train). But despite having a new rival for the league Billy still looked like one of the living dead. It was a bit like his brain and spirit was in another dimension and I bit my lip in worry. Was it just me or was Billy getting paler? He hadn't said anything in the past ten minutes either…

"So what Pokémon are you planning to take to the contest?" Peter questioned me snapping me out of my daydream.

"Don't tell him Paula!" Skyla cried "It's just a tactic to get an advantage over you!" this made me smile.

"In that case I'm taking Felicity!" I said with a grin causing Peter to deflate slightly and Skyla to snigger.

"Any chance you could tell me what type of Pokémon Felicity is?" Peter asked hopefully.

"You'll see in the contest." I said with a grin.

"It's a bit pointless only getting an advantage over one Pokémon in the whole contest…" Liz pointed out.

"Of course Elizabeth! Your intelligence is only matched by your beauty!" Peter cried causing Liz to sigh deeply.

"Don't make me kick you again." She snapped causing Peter to flinch.

"You know I'm only messing around Bethy!" Peter cried

"Bethy?"Liz questioned with a look of disgust.

"I've matured from that annoying flirt I used to be!" Peter said with a smile.

"You sure about that?" Luke questioned grinning. Peter frowned slightly at this remark.

"Of course!" Peter said smugly "So why don't we start off with a clean slate? I can show you guys I'm not the same person!" he said causing Liz to frown.

"Come on Liz let's give him a chance…" Luke said nudging Liz.

"Well… I suppose…" she said reluctantly.

"Yes! Thanks Lizzy I won't let you down!" Peter cried happily and Liz looked almost as sick as Billy for a moment.

"Well at least he's not using my full name anymore…" Liz muttered somewhat optimistically.

"Or Bethy…" Luke added sniggering. We walked on in relative silence for a few minutes the only ones who were talking were Shadow and Vanessa. Eventually we reached a large contest dome causing us to gasp.

"You think you guys had never seen a contest hall before." Skyla said sniggering.

"That's because we haven't... The last contest was in a gym…" I said in amazement.

"In Hoenn contests are even more popular!" Skyla said with a grin "The buildings are a lot bigger and even fancier!"

"Really?" Billy questioned. His voice sounded really bad… "It's hard to imagine they can get better then that..." He croaked causing us to look at him.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Liz questioned with raised eyebrows.

"Sure!" He cried and coughed to clear his throat "Never better!" he said sounding somewhat normal. No one said anything as we looked at Billy in disbelief. "Really guys I'm fine!" He said smiling weakly.

"You're a terrible liar." Luke said staring at him.

"I'm fine!" Billy yelled marching in front of us. "Now let's just go in and get this thing over with!" He yelled with annoyance in his voice.

"I've just realised he hasn't complained once about doing a gym battle before the contest…" Liz murmured while following him hesitantly. This caused an uncomfortable atmosphere among us. Even Peter and Skyla who didn't know him could sense that something was wrong. We trailed behind him as the doors to the contest hall slid open.

"Well look who it is." A smug voice rang out from inside.

"Awww! Go away!" Billy moaned. I looked at my friends in confusion and they shrugged when we got closer I realised who it was. That stupid kid from Saffron. What was his name again? Oh right Gary… I thought he went after gym badges…

"What are you doing in the contest hall?" I questioned.

"Signing up for the contest… what else would you do in there?" Gary questioned rolling his eyes while his Raichu sniggered. It then looked at Liz in surprise who glared at him.

"You're competing in the contest?" Luke questioned in surprise.

"Of course I can't make sure that I have the very best Pokémon if they don't excel in everything they do." Gary said smugly. "It's seems like you've taken a leaf out of my book though Billy, finally getting rid of that Pichu." He said grinning.

"I didn't get rid out of it! It's just not here right now…" Billy muttered glancing at Liz.

"You've compensated for it though by picking up three weak trainers." Gary said looking at our new friends.

"Hey!" Peter and Skyla protested while Liz sighed.

"I'll show you who's weak!" Skyla cried in determination "Let's battle!" she cried cause Gary to snigger.

"No thanks I've got no time to waste especially playing with little girls!" he said smugly.

"Excuse me?" I, Liz and Skyla said in anger.

"See you around little girls!" Gary said walking away.

"Peter or Paula! One of you better thrash that guy!" Skyla said in anger.

"I plan on it." Peter said with a frown and I nodded with determination. Billy burst into a coughing fit and Liz patted him on the back.

"Billy! You okay?" I cried with worry.

"Yer… fine…" Billy said between coughs

"Maybe we should get you to doctor…" Luke suggested

"No!" Billy cried in panic causing us to blink. "I'm fine!" He said clearing his throat.

"It's obvious you aren't fine…" Skyla muttered "You shouldn't push yourself if you're not feeling 100%" she said

"I'm fine!" Billy cried in annoyance and he started coughing again. "Now let's go in." he said his voice sounding very weak. He took a determined step forwards swayed slightly and collapsed on the floor.

"Billy!" We cried in panic.

**Billy's POV**

I felt really hot as I sweat underneath my clothes. The world felt very dizzy as I woke up in a white uncomfortable bed with Liz standing over me.

"Next time you're not feeling well just tell us okay?" She said sounding angry.

"Where I am? And where's everyone else?" I said attempting to sit up feeling dizzy as I did so.

"In the hospital. Only a few people are allowed in the room at a time. But everyone had go to the contest hall to make sure they signed up in time. Pokémon aren't allowed in the hospital in case people are allergic so Vanessa and Shadow went with them. Luke and Skyla wanted to stay but Paula looked like she was about to have a panic attack so they went with her and Peter to keep her calm." Liz explained. "I got you some flowers." She said pointing to the jar with a shrug causing me to smile softly.

"Thanks." I said my voice sounding croaky. "What's wrong with me?" I questioned.

"The doctor said that you were suffering from exhaustion and dehydration." Liz explained. "You should be able to leave in a week."

"A week?" I cried and immediately started coughing.

"You need to try and keep calm and not get over excited." Liz said calmly pushing me onto the bed. "Though that might be hard when you see who else is here…" She muttered softly. "Why were you so reluctant to go to the hospital?" She questioned in curiosity.

"I don't like doctors they make me feel sick…" I said shuddering causing Liz to grin.

"You've been with me to the Pokémon centre loads of times it's not exactly much different." She pointed out.

"It is!" I cried in protest coughing slightly. Liz raised her eyebrows at me and shook her head.

"This discussion is only making you sicker..." Liz pointed out. She sat down on a chair nearby my bedside with a sigh.

"You actually care about me don't you?" I pointed out with amazement in my voice causing Liz to look away.

"Don't be stupid." She muttered her face covered with her hat. I secretly felt very happy that she had warmed up to me despite all her sarcastic comments and complaints. I stared at the light over my bedside smiling. "Do you ever wish you caught a normal Pokémon?" Liz questioned causing me to stare at her. She was still looking away.

"No." I said grinning. "I wouldn't change my annoying, sarcastic first Pokémon for the world." I said and Liz sighed.

"But… one day I might have to leave… then we can't do this anymore..." She pointed out.

"Then we should enjoy ourselves while we still can!" I said then started coughing again. Liz stood up in worry.

"I should probably leave before I kill you…" She said with a small smile on her lips.

"Okay then…" I said in disappointment.

"Just promise me something." She said grinning.

"What?" I questioned my throat feeling itchy.

"Don't get too excited and don't hate me too much within the next few minutes." She said with a grin causing me to blink.

"…I promise… I guess…" I said causing her to nod.

"Good enough for me." she said leaving the hospital room leaving me alone to stare at the light again. Or so I thought.

"Billy….?" A familiar voice questioned sleepily. I turned my head and noticed a thick curtain between my bed and someone else's. I pulled it back and my breath caught in my throat. There with his arm in a sling was Kane Humphries. "It was you I knew it!" he cried happily while I stared at him with my mouth agape. What was my rival doing here and in the bed next to mine?

"What are you doing here?" I cried then I burst into a coughing fit. I recalled Liz's warning about not getting over excited. So this is what she meant… but why would I hate her?

"I and my Pokémon were training for our third badge in Vermillion city." Kane said with smile. "I accidently fell in the middle of training and sprained my arm now I have to spend time in hospital before attempting to get my badge." He said pulling a face while gesturing to his arm. "What about you?"

"Dehydration and exhaustion…." I murmured trying to keep my temper under control.

"I see…." Kane said nodding. This was probably the first civilised conversation we'd had in a while… A clock ticked somewhere nearby really loudly making the silence all too obvious.

"This is boring…" I murmured "I can't believe I have to stay here for a whole week…"

"I know!" Kane said rolling his eyes "I might die of boredom!" He complained "I get out in a week too!" He said grinning "The first thing I'm doing is challenging the gym when I get out of here." He said thoughtfully causing me to snap at him.

"You can't challenge the gym I'm challenging the gym!" I cried in frustration before coughing again.

"I've been in hospital longer though…" Kane moaned.

"That gym badge is mine!" I said in frustration and feeling dizzy before remembering Liz's promise and taking a few deep breaths to calm myself down.

"I'm glad our acting like yourself again." Kane muttered with confusion causing me to blink at him. "Your friends were really worried about you." He said with grin causing me to lie down with a sigh. Kane settled down on his own bed a several minutes passed. "Ouch…" Kane muttered causing me to look at him. "There's something pocking into my back and I can't get comfortable…" Kane complained moving around before pulling something out of the bed sheets. "What's this?" He questioned out loud and I looked at him in boredom. He had a slip of silver-white card in his hand and was looking at it in bewilderment.

"What is it?" I muttered feeling sleepy

"It says it's a ticket to the SS Anne II" Kane said in confusion causing me to sit up rapidly feeling instantly dizzy.

"WHAT?" I questioned trying not to cough.

"Like I said it's a ticket to the SS Anne II…" Kane said in bewilderment. "I don't know what that is though… do you?" he questioned

"Oh I know what it is alright." I said feeling very angry. I pulled out my own ticket from my pocket and showed it to him with a frown on my face.

"You've got a ticket too!" Kane said happily. "We can go on it together!" he said with a grin. The colour drained out of my face when he said that.

"Give it back." I said feeling annoyed.

"What are you talking about? I found it! It's finder's keepers!" Kane cried clutching the ticket to his chest.

"Yer but those tickets belong to my group there's no way one's just going to be sitting in your bed…" I said with a sigh. My eyes widened with realisation of Liz's second part of her promise. "LIZ!" I cried with annoyance before coughing again.

**Luke's POV**

"I hope Billy's feeling okay." Paula said biting her nails for the tenth time in the last minute. We stood around in the reception of the contest hall waiting for Peter to finish signing up.

"He'll be fine! The doctor said there was nothing to worry about." Skyla said patting her shoulder.

"Do you think it was a good idea letting Liz give that ticket to Kane?" Shadow questioned.

"Well I don't know what their relationship is like…" I muttered discretely "No one else had any problems with it…" I said with a shrug.

"Finally finished signing up!" Peter said happily running up to us.

"…Now what?" Skyla questioned after a long silence.

"Nothing we can do really… just find somewhere to stay and stuff…" I muttered. We all felt out of sorts from seeing Billy collapse.

"Why don't we go get something to eat?" Skyla finally suggested feeling awkward. We all wanted to visit Billy but there wasn't exactly much to do at the hospital plus I didn't like leaving Shadow outside.

"I'll wait here. I don't want Liz getting here and finding us gone." I explained

"I'll wait here too." Peter said giving me a friendly punch on the arm (though it hurt slightly). "I don't want Luke here going crazy." He said causing me to grin.

"So it's just us girls then." Skyla said putting her arm around Paula making her a bit uncomfortable. "Let's shop until we drop!" she cried happily making Paula smile.

"Wait for me!" Vanessa cried running after her trainer. They walked out of the contest hall. We boys sighed with relief when they were gone.

"That was a lucky escape." Peter said "I don't feel like getting dragged around shops." He said walking up to a vending machine while I sat down on a nearby chair and Shadow jumped up beside me. "You want anything?" Peter questioned and I threw a coin (One Poké) towards him which he caught with ease.

"Just get me a cheap drink." I said leaning back. Peter returned with two drinks and he sat down on a chair opposite throwing my drink at me. We chilled for a few minutes not saying anything taking sips of our drinks.

"Did Lizzy miss me when I was gone?" Peter questioned innocently not looking at me.

"Honestly I think she was glad to see you go." I said chuckling causing Peter to deflate slightly. "I'm joking!" I said "You know what she's like! Hardly ever shows she cares!" I said with a sigh. "She acted chuffed all day when you left… but I saw her crying later that day…" I said sadly. "Plus she remembered you in Saffron when she forgot me…" I said looking at the ground causing Peter to look at me.

"She forgot about you? No way! You two were like two peas in a pod!" Peter cried in disbelief and I nodded solemnly. "I was always jealous of your relationship when we were growing up…" He admitted causing me to stare at him. "That's why I always flirted with her with her when we were growing up… so she would pay attention to me for those few minutes and not you…" he said with his head hanging.

"She had a special place in her heart for all of us... the four of us were her only friends when she was growing up… then Mary left… then you… then I had to leave… and she was left alone again…" I said sadly.

"I'm surprised you left without her!" Peter cried in amazement. "I remember you tried to convince her to go a journey nearly every day!" he said with a fond smile. "Why did she decide to go a journey now?" I shrugged

"I know part of the reason." I said thinking of the white Pichu. "But not all of it… she could have travelled alone, but decided to travel with those two kids instead." I said with a small smile.

"Doesn't really sound like her style…" Peter admitted with a grin. "But she's always full of surprises."

"You don't know the half of it." I muttered and we both took a drink.

"I want to make it up to her…" Peter said. "For being so stupid to her in the past…"

"She's probably already forgotten about that..." I said with a shrug.

"I want her to be happy." Peter said staring at his drink. "I meant what I said earlier. She has become very beautiful." I stared in him in astonishment. "Don't tell me you haven't realised Luke? You're a teenage boy after all!" Peter cried.

"To be honest I don't think of Liz like that…" I said truthfully and my heart skipped a beat.

"I might ask Liz to travel with me." Peter said seriously staring into my eyes. "But she probably doesn't want to leave you because you were always closer to her…" Peter said somewhat bitterly. "That means I'll have to win Liz from you! You're my true rival!" he cried standing up in determination causing me to blink.

"It's Liz's decision who she travels with…" I said hesitantly. Peter's eyes narrowed behind his glasses.

"Exactly." He said. He began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" I called after him spinning on the chair. He didn't answer and left the reception. I sat down with a sigh.

"Somehow I feel like this has become a lot more complicated…" Shadow said with a sigh.

"You and me both…" I said moping.

"Hey where's Peter going?" Skyla cried running in and I shrugged.

"I thought you were out shopping…" I said in confusion.

"Everything's too expensive…" The girls said moping. I thought about what Peter had said silently for a few minutes and I stood up in determination.

"I'm going to enter the contest too!" I said in determination.

"What?" Paula questioned in confusion.

"What's brought this on?" Skyla questioned and I noticed Shadow smirking at me.

"I just got in the mood for entering the contest by sitting here! Seeing all the contest stuff makes me excited to take part!" I said thinking on my feet.

"Right…." Skyla said hesitantly.

"I'll help you sign up!" Paula said with false enthusiasm while dragging me away from Skyla towards the reception desk. "So what's the real reason?" She muttered discretely.

"That is the real reason!" I said with a smile.

"Yer… sure…" Paula muttered. I turned to the receptionist who sighed upon seeing me and pulled out her headphones and stopped typing at the computer.

"Excuse me." I said with a smile "I'd like to sign up for the contest! I'd also like a contest pass as well please." The woman sighed loudly and typed something in her computer.

"I'm sorry we haven't got any male contest passes left..." she said turning back to me.

"What?" I cried in shock

"Well there were problems with the shipping order..." the woman frowned "something about a sleeping Pokémon blocking the path... I swear these companies make up any excuse to stop making deliveries..." she muttered

"What I am supposed to do now?" I questioned and the receptionist shrugged, put her headphones back in and started typing again.

"You could always enter the contest as a Pokémon..." Paula said quietly then she frowned "but that wouldn't work because I want to use Felicity and Billy's sick..." I sighed and the Pokémon centre doors slide open.

"Hi." Liz said and I looked up at her. "Billy's apparently recovering all he needs is some rest he apparently won't be out the hospital for about a week though..." she said with a sigh and I stared at her with my mouth agape. "What?" she questioned with a frown. An evil smirk covered my face. Guess I would be entering the contest after all... or rather _we_ would be...

_**The sleeping Pokémon was a reference to that annoying Snorlax that's in everyone's way and did anyone spot the Magikarp salesman he's quite early in if you didn't... next chapter will obliviously be the contest (which may become a double chapter depending on length) then the gym battle, then the SS Anne 2 boat trip. Speaking of which one ticket down and one left to go! And I have plans for Felicity and Steve (begins laughing evilly).Plus Alice's past will eventually be revealed just not for ages… I've finally finished my project work! So I'll hopefully have more time to write this now thanks again for all the reviews **_


	33. Contest Mania!

Disclaimer- emerges from cave covered in dust*cough*cough* I finally escaped… fresh air! Freedom! And the fact that that I don't own Pokémon!.. Actually the last one isn't so great… **Apologies in advance for cussing **

Contest Mania!

**Billy's POV**

I sighed in boredom for the thousandth time that day. I had long since lost track of how many days I had spent in hospital as the days were dragging and the food was horrible. Plus the fact I was in the hospital next to my rival and every time we attempted to have a conversation it always wounded up in an argument (mainly about who would have their gym battle first when we eventually got out of hospital) making me feel dizzy and sick. And Liz decided it would be a brilliant idea to give him one of our two spare tickets meaning I would be stuck with him until the boat trip had finished. I rolled my eyes in frustration. I hope Liz has some bad Karma coming for her!

"Here ya go boys." A nurse said wheeling in a television causing me and Kane to perk up. "Don't get too excited." She said looking at our faces. "It's just so ya can watch da contest seeing as nearly every patient wants ta watch." The nurse said looking very bored before passing me a remote and walking slowly away.

"It's better than doing nothing!" Kane said happily and I shrugged and switched on the television.

"Welcome to the Vermillion City contest!" A woman with curly brown hair said with excitement. The image changed to that of a large crowd clapping and cheering then switched back to the woman. "I'm your host Sarah!" the woman said smiling causing the crowd the cheer again and there were several whistles. "But this isn't about me!" Sarah said laughing "This is about the Pokémon and people that have put hours into practising just for this very moment! Please welcome our co-ordinators onto the stage!" she cried running off as the crowd cheered again as several people poured onto the stage. Only a few of them had Pokémon outside walking with them and my eye caught a few powerful looking Pokémon. The camera flashed onto Gary who had a powerful looking Lucario and his Raichu by his side not bothering to even smile or wave at the crowd. Then it flashed onto Peter who gave a small wave as he walked. The camera moved onto someone I didn't recognise with strange red eyes and a Quilava and a Munchlax by his side as he smiled softly at the crowd but looked quite frightened but determined. Next the camera showed Paula who was looking confidently ahead causing me to grin. Then I saw who was walking behind her and I nearly choked. Liz was scowling at everyone in the audience with Luke (in Eevee form) happily grinning from his place on her shoulder while Shadow trotted after them. Things just got a lot more entertaining.

**Paula's POV**

We were sitting in the crowded contest hall, as Skyla and Peter stood elsewhere in the room; Liz sat next to me, while I got myself ready, with her arms folded. "I hate you." Liz said bluntly to Luke who was still on her shoulder.

"vee." Luke said laughing

"Bree." Shadow said rolling his eyes but also laughing.

"How did you convince me to do this again?" She asked scowling while I brushed my long hair.

"Eevee ee vee!" Luke said rolling his eyes.

"I still say you brainwashed me." Liz said with some anger causing Luke and Shadow to laugh again and I sniggered.

"Aren't you going to put a nice contest outfit?" I questioned with a small smile while tying my hair up. The look on Liz's face said it all really causing me to laugh loudly causing Peter to look up with surprise.

"Liz? What are you doing here?" Peter asked in surprise walking up to us.

"Competing in the contest, obviously." She said rolling her eyes.

"I didn't know you had any Pokémon…." He said hesitantly.

"Yer this is my Eevee Lu-Larry." She said catching herself just before she said Luke's name while Luke frowned. "I'll be using him in the contest."

"Well what's Shadow doing here?" Peter questioned

"Um… he's…" Liz looked around desperately and then spotted something and smiled "He's here to see Vanessa!" She said happily just as Skyla's Espeon Vanessa walked over to us and the two Eeveelutions began chatting.

"Well I won't let you win!" Peter said in determination causing Liz to sigh. "I thought Luke would have been here though…" he muttered looking at the three of them with interest.

"Luke's at the hospital visiting Billy." I said quickly before anyone asked where Luke was.

You guys nervous?" Skyla questioned walking up to us following her Pokémon while grinning. Liz shrugged before answering.

"Why would I be? Larry's the one doing all the work." She said bluntly causing me to blink.

"Well it's really a team effort between you and the Pokémon... you support each other throughout it... and you have to keep your head in front of a huge crowd of people…" I explained causing Liz to grin and raise her eyebrows.

"Look at you talking like a pro when you've only done one contest!" she teased.

"Still more then you!" I said with pout.

"She's right you know." Peter piped in grinning.

"Which one purple or hat-girl?" Gary sniggered walking up to us. "Hat-girl's got the right idea there's no point being nervous especially when you're all going to lose to me."

"What?" Peter and I growled.

"Don't deny what you know to be true." Gary said shrugging

"And don't make up claims without evidence." Liz resorted frowning.

"Whatever." Gary said with a shrug "They will be true at the end of the contest."

"You should leave them alone you shithead." An unfamiliar deep voice said causing us all to turn. He had strange red eyes and was wearing a black T-shirt, with a red vest over it, black jeans, black fingerless gloves and a red hat. He had a Quilava and a Munchlax by his side and all of them had a look of determination in their eyes. The boy's red eyes were burning in anger at Gary. Seeing those eyes reminded me a bit of the Pokémon possessed by the strange black fog but there was no malicious intent behind them. Plus he wasn't attacking us. And the last time we had been attacked by someone controlled by the fog his eyes hadn't been glowing until he was revealed as a bad guy. Luke and Liz didn't seem that bothered by him anyway so maybe it was just me that was worried. I had been tied up and held hostage by Harvey in that day care after all…

"I guess that saying is true… trash attracts trash."Gary said loudly frowning at the new arrival.

"Say that again Gary." The boy hissed "I think the only trash here is standing in front of us."

"Worthless all of you." Gary said scanning us with his eyes before walking away.

"How on earth does one guy manage to piss of so many people?" Skyla asked frowning while the 7 of us looked after him.

"Who are you guys?" The mystery boy questioned. We introduced ourselves one after another while the boy nodded with a small frown. "Well I'm Red." The boy said after our introductions "This is Munchlax and Quilava." He said gesturing to his two Pokémon who were by his side who called out their respective names. "You'd better stay away from Gary though… he's a nasty piece of work" He said his fist trembling "Selling Pokémon as if they were tools…" he growled trailing off a bit.

"Thanks for coming over when you did though Red." Peter said smiling

"Don't get me wrong." Red said quickly causing all of us to blink. "I helped you because I hate Gary. Generally I hate all trainers. Imprisoning their Pokémon in Poké balls like slaves it's disgusting!" He shuddered. "Pokémon should be your friends and not captured on whims!" he said looking at us his eyes still angered.

"You can't judge all trainers based on one person!" Skyla cried in protest.

"It's not just one…" Red trailed off sadly while his Munchlax looked at him with worry. "Let's go…" He said in disappointment throwing a look back towards Luke. A few minutes passed by in silence before Liz sighed.

"How long do we have to sit here for?" Liz questioned looking around the contest waiting room.

"Well in a few minutes they should start calling up co-ordinators to the stage." Skyla explained checking her watch.

"And we're back!" The announcer cried happily as the television in the room flickered on just as Skyla finished talking. "Let's introduce the judges! First there's Nurse Joy!" she cried and the camera flicked to a familiar pink haired woman.

"I hope that none of the Pokémon get hurt in this contest." She said bowing slightly.

"Do nurses know anything about judging?" Liz questioned out loud.

"Mr. Contesta!" The announcer cried

"I hope the Pokémon show off their natural charms." The early man said smiling.

"And finally our resident gym leader! The lighting American! Lt. Surge!" she cried on last time as the camera showed the final judge. He extremely big and muscley it was hard to believe that he was capable of judging a contest (which let's face it more girls tended to do then boys) and that he was going up against Billy and Luke soon.

"Good to be here." The gym leader spoke gruffly with a heavy accent. It didn't seem like he was too chuffed to be here.

"So let's start the contest! Our first contestant is…." I held my breath unconsciously "Gary Levilus!" the announcer cried causing me to breathe again. I focused on the small screen as Gary strutted onto the stage with his Lucario and Raichu.

"Go." Gary said simply and his Lucario leapt high into air in an almost invisible blur causing everyone to gasp. The Lucario held out both its arms and a large blue sphere came out of both of its palms. It threw both these spheres into the air before landing again and jumping even higher than before after them. It approached the first sphere and slashed it with a metal claw attack causing a large explosion which made Lucario fall rapidly towards the wall and it to shut its eyes. The crowd gasped in horror thinking something had gone wrong but then the Lucario's eyes snapped open and it landed on the wall and began running up it in an extreme speed attack. It chased the falling blue sphere and leapt off the wall to the middle of the stage. It slashed the sphere with another metal claw causing it to explode and Lucario to get blasted towards the ceiling. The Lucario somersaulted a few times before using the ceiling to jump rapidly towards the ground. It sped downwards head first then used force palm towards the ground breaking up the stage but creating a rush of wind to slow its fall as it span once more and landed on its feet. The crowd erupted into cheers and Gary smirked in triumph as Lucario walked calmly back to his side.

"A powerful performance to start us off!" The announcer cried "Let's hear what the judges had to say!"

"Lucario's obviously in peak condition but it seemed to get hurt performing some of those stunts." The nurse said with worry. I looked at Lucario and noticed it was breathing heavily despite trying to look unfazed.

"Lucario must have been well trained to do half those moves." Mr. Contesta said nodding "A brilliant way to start off this contest."

"Powerful Pokémon." Lt. Surge said nodding. The other judges looked at him expectantly but it was obvious he wasn't going to say anything else.

"Right now let's move on to our next co-ordinator-Pokémon pair!" The announcer cried as Gary walked off the stage.

"Damn that guy wasn't just bragging about his skill…" Peter muttered miserably

"You guys will have to be careful when you're going up against him..." Skyla said nodding.

Several trainers and Pokémon went by and each time my name wasn't called I became more nervous. Some trainers were average while others were terrible. There was one instance with a boy trying to do a combination with his Weedle and the two of them winded up tied together in a stringshot attack. There were few co-ordinators that caught my eye.

"Now our next contestant is…" I held my breath for the millionth time that day "Peter from Windswept valley!" She cried as Peter grinned at us before running towards the stage as Luke growled softly on the bench. He reappeared moments later on the television.

"It's show time Shuppet!" He cried releasing an unfamiliar black floating Pokémon that looked a bit like a puppet. Where was Billy's Pokedex when you needed it? "Astonish!" Peter cried causing the black Pokémon to disappear and reappear much larger grinning in front of the audience causing many of them to flinch and some to cry out in shock. "Will-o-wisp!" Shuppet began spinning around unleashing small fire spheres. "Shadow Sneak!" Peter cried as his Shuppet disappeared again. Suddenly one of the spheres of fire started moving towards the centre of the stage without any sign of a move being used causing people to blink and murmur. The rest began to follow rapidly with no sign of any movement. "Now Shadow Ball!" Peter cried as his Shuppet reappeared in the centre of the will-o-wisps and unleashed a giant Shadow ball which engulfed the will-o-wisps before exploding in a mass of shadow and fire.

"Peter's no light-weight either!" Skyla said in excitement while I nodded in aware. Even Liz and Luke seemed impressed.

"Let's hear what our judges thought of it!" The announcer cried.

"Peter's Shuppet really utilises the best parts of its ghost typing." Mr. Contesta said smiling causing me to blink. So Shuppet was a Ghost type…

"Yes... it gave me a scare." Nurse Joy said smiling putting a hand over her heart smiling.

"Uses sneak attacks works best on an enemy." Lt. Surge said causing everyone to look at him again. He hadn't spoken since Gary's appeal. "Though you could see that Shuppet's shadow on the ground when it was moving the fire." He said causing everyone to gasp.

"Really?" I questioned "I didn't see anything!" I said in surprise. Evidently the announcer was sceptical as well when she next spoke it was with a tone of surprise.

"Let's take a look at Shuppet's appeal again!" She said with a frown. We saw the footage being rewound as it approached the bit where Shuppet was moving the fire it was suddenly paused. The footage of the ground was zoomed in and… there! A very faint shadow could be seen in the shape of a Shuppet causing Peter and his Pokémon to gape. "Well what an unexpected development! It seems Shuppet wasn't as invisible as Peter first hoped!" The announcer cried causing Peter to glare at the ground and walk off the stage. "Now our next contestant is Paula Haring!" She cried causing me to stiffen.

"Hurry up and go." Liz said shoving me off the bench. "That stage isn't going do an appeal all by itself is it?" She questioned causing me to grin.

"Right." I said nodding "Thank Liz." I added smiling causing her to shrug and lie down and Peter and Skyla to stare at her in wonder. I briefly wondered if she had forced me to go just so she could lie down but then I shook my head and ran towards the stage.

"Let's give a big cheer to Paula!" The announcer cried making me dizzy hearing the noise of the crowd.

"Let's get going Felicity!" I cried releasing my Growlithe causing the crowd to gush at its cuteness and my Growlithe to look proud. Growlithes were very popular in contests. Several assistants came onto the field setting up the equipment I had requested earlier causing me to smile. I had realised early on that I would have to show off Felicity in a different way as she only currently knew three moves (Roar, Bite and Fire Spin). So we had trained for a different type of appeal an obstacle course. There was a net of wires that Felicity would have to crawl under, several hoops that needed to be jumped through, a wobbly see-saw which had to be balanced on and ran over plus a tunnel to complete the course. Plus it all had to be completed in 5 minutes. **(Author's note: (it's not at the bottom because of the chapter length) ****this was based off what the dogs have to do in those dog shows only with a wire net added and a time limit. So when picturing the obstacle course just pictures the types of things used in dog shows.)** It was a tall order even for a highly trained Growlithe like officer Jenny used. I nodded to myself in determination. We could do this.

**Luke's POV**

I paced in annoyance on the bench while Shadow chatted to Vanessa. When would it be our turn to do an appeal?

"Are you really not nervous?" Peter question Liz causing her to shrug.

"Of course not." She said shrugging causing me to frown. She could take this a bit more seriously! "Larry's going to thrash you guys." She stated causing me to blink. I didn't realise she had that much faith in my abilities… but why did she have to use the name Larry? I knew it was to hide my identity because it would be suspicious if I didn't show up to the contest while an Eevee that just so happened to shared my name did but still! My attention turned back to the television screen where Paula stood looking fairly confident.

"Go!" Paula cried smiling and the clock began decreasing. Felicity immediately started crawling under the wire while Paula shouted encouragement. She quickly managed to get out of the net within a minute and quickly moved onto the next obstacle with Paula following behind making sure she was okay. Next Felicity climbed onto a balance beam. I didn't notice previously but the balance beam was broken up into two different segments meaning Felicity would have to jump while maintaining her balance. Felicity nervously climbed onto the first beam wobbling slightly before slowly walking along the beam with all her feet in a row. She jumped to the next beam causing her to wobble but she landed safely causing the crowd to cheer. But with the slow walk she had been doing over 2 minutes had passed on the clock with still a few more obstacles to go. "Felicity through the hoops!" Paula cried causing the Growlithe to nod as the two of them ran towards the hoop. Felicity jumped with ease through the first hoop causing Paula to grin. The second hoop was a bit higher but the Growlithe still managed to jump through it with ease. The third and final hoop was a lot higher than the previous ones but the trainer and Pokémon just grinned and Paula held out her arm as Felicity leapt. The Growlithe jumped onto Paula's arm and using it as a boost easily jumped through the final hoop causing the crowd to cheer at their team work. There was less than a minute to go as Felicity used Fire spin on the tunnel setting it a lit causing the crowd to gasp. The she ran through the tunnel at a high speed while the fire from the tunnel was slowly absorbed into her fur because of her Flash fire ability. It looked like Felicity was putting out the flames by running through them, it was very impressive. She burst out the tunnel with the rest of the fire disappearing just before the clock struck zero causing the crowd to cheer loudly. It wasn't a very flashy appeal but it was definitely good.

"Judges? What are your thoughts?" The announcer questioned

"Growlithe and Paula work really well together a heart warming sight." Nurse Joy said smiling.

"Growlithe's Flash fire ability was utilised very well in the finishing stages. Plus, an excellent use of props to show off Growlithe's abilities." Mr. Contesta said nodding. There was a small silence as the judges turned to Lt. Surge expecting him to speak.

"Reminds me of the training I did for the army." He said at last causing everyone to sigh. Paula smiled and ran off the stage rejoining us a few minutes later.

"I was so nervous." She admitted with a small sigh.

"You shouldn't have been that was amazing!" Skyla said with excitement.

"It wasn't too bad considering it was your second appeal." Peter said grinning before bending down to look at Felicity who was still by Paula's side. "So this is Felicity huh?" He said while Felicity growled.

"Don't get too close to Paula or I'll hurt you!" She cried growling while Paula picked her up.

"You shouldn't growl at people!" Paula scolded "Peter's just trying to be nice." She explained causing the Growlithe to frown and pout.

"Sorry then." She muttered under her breath even though Peter couldn't understand her anyway. There were a few minutes of silence while some random trainer we didn't know got called up to do an appeal.

"We must be nearing the end of the appeal's round soon." Skyla mused "There's not that many people left in here that haven't competed yet…"

"That's right!" Paula said in surprise "Liz you haven't competed yet! Neither has that guy we met earlier Red…" she mused

"We'll probably get to go up soon then." Liz said shrugging while looking at me.

"Yer…" I agreed glaring at Peter. He said that he would ask Liz to travel with him but so far he hadn't even hinted at it… maybe he was just waiting for the right moment but he shouldn't force Liz into decision like that! I was going to make sure he doesn't get the chance! The appeal on the television finished with Nurse Joy and Mr. Contesta giving good reviews but Lt. Surge not saying anything.

"Now I have some bad news!" The announcer cried focusing my attention back on the T.V. "We only have two co-ordinators left to show their appeals!" The crowd made an 'awww' sound but my ears had perked up. Either Red or me (and Liz) would go next…. "Don't worry though because after that is the battle stage of the contest!" she cried causing the crowd to start cheering again. "So give it up for our next co-ordinator Red!" she cried as Red ran onto the field with his Quilava by his side while his Munchlax waddled after them.

"It's your turn buddy." Red said smiling patting his Quilava on the head causing the Pokémon to smile back. It surprised me that someone could have such a difference in attitude between people and Pokémon.

"I won't let you down!" The Quilava said nodding. "We'll win against Gary this time!" It said in determination. It didn't seem like Red was a bad person… anti-social maybe but defiantly not a bad person. I smiled to myself I wouldn't mind getting to know him a bit better as a friend… I noticed the final spare ticket to the SS Anne II we had through a small gap in Liz's bag. I shook my head rapidly. I couldn't invite a complete stranger with us on a boat for a week. Besides I thought to myself looking at Vanessa with a look of determination in my eyes I already had someone in mind.

"Go Quilava!" Red cried snapping me out of my thoughts. "Smokescreen!" Red cried as the stage got covered in smoke. This move surprised me why would you use smokescreen in a contest? The whole point of a contest is that you could see the Pokémon. "Star Wheel combo!" this caused me to blink in confusion. What was a Star Wheel? In the middle of the smokescreen I could just make out a red flame wheel. Then it unleashed a swift attack causing several stars to shoot of in several different directions. The effect made it look like the stars were meteors with fire coming off them only they were going towards the ceiling instead off falling from it. With the smokescreen added it also looked like the night sky but the smoke was clearing quickly thanks to the attack. I could make out the Quilava quite clearly now. "Now Lava Plume!" Red cried as his Pokémon began glowing red which shone brightly. It unleashed a huge fire attack blasting the rest of the smoke away and destroying the stars that remained causing yellow and red glitter to fall down to the stage.

"A beautiful combination by Red and his Quilava!" The announcer cried

"Yes amazing techniques used to make it look like the night sky." Nurse Joy said smiling.

"Yes and an amazing use of smokescreen to add to the mystery!" Mr. Contesta said smiling. They looked again to Lt. Surge but he didn't say anything causing Red to frown.

"Okay then!" The announcer cried undeterred while Red walked off the stage. "Last but not least is Elizabeth Payne from Windswept Valley!"

"Do they really have to use my full name?" Liz muttered before standing up and I quickly jumped onto Liz's shoulder.

"Good Luck." Peter, Skyla, Paula, Shadow and Vanessa said in unison. We left the room and started walking towards the stage.

"Finally I can talk to you." I said sighing in relief.

"I went through that basically everyday only no one could understand me before you joined our group." Liz muttered looking around. We may have been out of the room full of people but we still had to be careful.

"I've been thinking…" I muttered "Maybe we should give that last ticket to Skyla…" I said trailing off.

"Skyla?" Liz questioned "Seems a strange choice…" She muttered "But then again we do know her and she gets on well with Billy and Paula… I'm okay with it." Liz muttered nodding "But why?"

"That Espeon knew something about an Amethyst Ninetails and she won't tell Shadow about it even though he was asking." When Shadow and Vanessa had been talking Shadow had tried to get some information of her but every time he asked Vanessa changed the subject. "I'm thinking if she gets to know us better she'll tell us." I muttered as we were very close to the stage.

"Fine by me." Liz said barely moving her lips as we were greeted by the crowd's cheers. "Should I shout out something cheesy?" She questioned in a mutter looking straight ahead.

"Do what you like." I said grinning.

"Just go do your appeal-y thing." She said loudly shoving me off her shoulder causing the crowd to mutter. I began laughing loudly which caused the crowd to relax slightly but they still looked fairly anxious. There were a lot of stories about shiny Pokémon being sold and mistreated by trainers and I doubted anyone had seen an Eevee like me. I saw a couple of the crowd taking pictures and gasping and pointing causing me to feel slightly nervous. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea… "You'll be fine." Liz said sensing my nervousness and I nodded in determination.

"I can do this." I told myself. It was part of our agreement that I would do the appeals round by myself while Liz directed me for the battle round. Though this was mainly so that Liz wouldn't have to remember which moves to call out during the appeals round and so that we wouldn't have to work on our timing. I started off by firing a Shadow Ball and I whacked the ball into the air using my tail. The only reason the attack didn't hurt me was because it was a ghost type while I was a normal type. I stared at the Shadow Ball as it fell back to earth before jumping and doing a somersault while using my speed to whack it even further into the air using my tail again. The Shadow Ball sped back down to earth and I jumped up to meet it again. I fired another Shadow Ball causing to two to collide in midair and bounce off in different directions. I sighed with relief that was the hardest part of our appeal and most of the time in practice the two Shadow balls exploded as soon as they hit each other. The two Shadow Balls came speeding towards me and I used Agility to dodge in a jump over the two attacks with ease adding a spin as I did so causing Liz to roll her eyes. I grinned proudly as I heard the crowds impressed cheers as the two Shadow Balls crashed into the ground behind me. I started forming one more Shadow ball a lot bigger than the previous ones. Though because of its size (It was bigger than me and Liz combined) it didn't move at all when I had finished the move. I charged towards the giant Shadow Ball my paws gleaming and destroyed it in one Metal Claw attack causing the crowd to cheer loudly and my appeal to be over. What the audience didn't know was that it was actually very easy to destroy a Shadow ball with the right attack because it was made up off shadow (isn't that surprising). It was just basically popping a giant balloon.

"Let's give up for our last appeal Elizabeth and her Eevee!" The announcer cried causing Liz and me to frown.

"That Eevee is obviously at the prime of its health all of its movement are so fluid." Nurse Joy said smiling causing me to perk up a bit.

"Yes Eevee's movement were all very precise." Mr. Contesta said nodding "A good range of attacks were used as well."

"Not bad." Lt. Surge said nodding looking at me curiously. "Quite a rare Eevee you've got there girl." He said nodding at Liz "Treat it well." Liz nodded and I jumped back onto her shoulder.

"And that's the end of the appeals round!" The announcer cried as we left. "We'll be taking a short 30 minute break while our judges decide who's going through to the next round the battle tournament! So don't switch that channel!" She cried

**Billy's POV**

I flopped back onto the bed as the television began playing some adverts for stuff like different Pokémon food, the Umbra Company and the Pokémon league challenge. Both Paula and Liz's appeals had been really good but I couldn't deny the skill shown by Gary or Peter either. Plus there was that other guy… what was his name? Red or something... out of all the appeals his was the only one (besides my friend's appeals) who caught my eye. I looked around in boredom Kane had fallen asleep earlier due to some medication he had to take so there was nothing to do. My thoughts turned to the gym leader who I going to face as soon as I was out of hospital. He seemed really strong and my heart pounded at the thought of facing him. But Kane wanted to battle him as well and Luke had mentioned battling the gym leader before I fell ill. There was no way all three of us could battle him at the same time and I wanted to battle as soon as I got out here… no doubt Kane felt the same way. Luke I was unsure about but I don't think he would want to sit about waiting for his chance either. So how could we achieve a way that made all three of us happy? All this thinking was making my head feel dizzy again and I closed my eyes and within minutes I had fell asleep.

**Liz's POV**

"I hope you guys all make it through." Skyla said looking at all of us with a smile. Peter, Luke, Paula, Skyla, Shadow, Vanessa and I were all sitting together in the waiting room once more to hear the results. Skyla noticed Gary looking at his Lucario with fierce eyes and muttered "Though I hope he doesn't make it through."

"We're easily the best co-ordinators here." Peter said looking around.

"That's sort of arrogant isn't it?" Paula questioned in surprise.

"He's got a point." Shadow admitted "A lot of the co-ordinators have already gone home without even hearing the result."

"Only eight people will go through at the end." Luke pointed out "That's eight from about fifty or so people. There's no point being overconfident."

"You do realise they can't hear you right?" I sighed and muttered

"Did you say something Liz?" Skyla questioned causing me to panic and shake my head while Peter and Skyla gave me strange looks.

"What you're still here?" a familiar cocky voice questioned and we all turned to see Gary. "I thought you would have been scared off by my great appeal!" He said puffing up his chest.

"Just ignore him…" Luke muttered and luckily everyone seemed to understand him as no one said anything and we all acted like he hadn't arrived.

"Don't ignore me!" Gary cried in frustration. He walked closer to us anger in his eyes. Suddenly he lunged towards me and attempted to grab my hat causing my eyes to widen in fear. I panicked and placed one hand on my hat to prevent him grabbing it and used my other hand to punch him in the gut causing him to fall to ground.

"Don't. Touch. My. Hat." I growled my eyes burning with fear and anger causing Gary to back off a bit.

"That's what you get for ignoring me." he said trying to sound confident but sounding shaken up as he stood up. "You guys are a waste of my time." He said before leaving. I sighed and sat down and noticed everyone staring at me.

"What was that?" Skyla questioned causing me to blink.

"What?" I questioned

"You looked like you were about to kill him." Skyla said with some fear in her eyes.

"Yer…" Peter added "Seriously Liz it's just a hat…." The two of them turned away and I was silent after that feeling the anger building up in me. Only Paula, Luke, Shadow and Vanessa stayed silent knowing why I had reacted so violently. It was that easy to reveal that I had Pichu ears. It was that easy to destroy my whole world. Though the few people that knew had been accepting so far but I knew it wouldn't always be like that. Then what would happen? When I first started this adventure all my dreams had been about being captured locked in a cage by people who might misuse my power but then slowly I started relaxing. But based on the fact that Luke was like me it was plausible there were others… What would happen to them just because my hat got knocked off?

"And we're back!" The announcer cried snapping me out of my thoughts. "Here are the eight co-ordinators that made it through to the next round!" a couple of pictures flipped over and I quickly located my face along with Peter's, Paula's, Gary's, Red's and three random people I didn't recognise. I heard my friends cheering and giving each other high fives while I gave a small smile. "Now let's pair them up!" the announcer cried and the board began randomly shuffling the cards with our faces on them. Eventually the board stopped and I looked at the results. Peter was battling one of the people we didn't know. Paula was also battling an unrecognised person while Gary and Red were facing off in the first round; I was also battling a random person. If I and Peter won we would have to face off in the second round and if Paula won she would have to battle Gary or Red before facing me and Luke or Peter provided we all won against the trainers we were battling against. "The first battle is Peter VS Georgina!" Peter walked confidently onto the stage while a trembling girl of about eight years old walked onto the stage.

"Go Shuppet!" Peter cried releasing the Ghost type Pokémon.

"Go Fifi!" The girl cried releasing a spiky brown Pokémon that I recognised but couldn't recall the name of.

"Fifi?" I questioned raising my eyebrows in disbelief.

"That's a Zigzagoon." Skyla said noticing my confused look "It evolves into a Linoone."

"Start the contest!" The announcer cried and a clock began counting down.

"Fifi use Tackle!" the girl cried her voice filled with panic. Peter didn't order anything as the Zigzagoon ran towards his Shuppet. The Zigzagoon Leapt and passed straight through the Shuppet causing the Pokémon to crash into ground behind it and the girl to lose some points. "Why?" She questioned in disbelief.

"Shuppet is a Ghost type. Normal moves have no affect on it." Peter said with a look of boredom on his face as he pushed up his glasses. "Will-o-wisp!" Peter cried as his Shuppet unleashed several spheres of fire burning the Zigzagoon causing the girl to panic and lose more points.

"Erm… Fifi… use Quick Attack!" She cried causing me to face palm myself. The Zigzagoon dashed forward in a white blur and jumped… only to pass through the Shuppet again causing the Pokémon to hit the ground again and the girl to lose more points. To make matters worse her Zigzagoon caught fire as an after effect of the burn making the girl bit her lip and look like she was about to cry.

"Astonish." Peter said emotionlessly as his Shuppet disappeared.

"I thought ghost type move don't work on normal types either." Paula stated

"They don't." Skyla said simply "But contests are all about how you utilise your moves as well." Shuppet reappeared in front of the girl and her Pokémon much larger as it had done during the appeals round. This was too much for the girl and she burst into tears in fear causing the judges to all press the red X buttons on their consoles. Obviously she wasn't in a fit state for battling and I wondered how she had managed to get into the Battle Round in the first place. The girl was escorted off the stage while holding Nurse Joy's hand.

"Victory goes to Peter!" the announcer cried causing the crowd to murmur. They had obviously hoped for a more exciting battle and weren't too sure if Peter had meant to make an eight year old girl cry or not. I eventually heard some reluctant clapping throughout the crowd. "Next is Elizabeth Payne," I flinched hearing my full name "VS Maximilian Jeffery!"

"Do they have to use my full name?" I heard a boy mutter nearby and I stared at him in disbelief. It was the boy I was battling against next.

"I know it's annoying right?" I said grinning at him causing him to stare at me.

"You're the person I'm battling next!" He cried eventually. He was a bit slow on the uptake….

"Um… yer…" I said causing him to stare at me and his eyes locked onto Luke who was sitting on my shoulder and he grinned.

"Well good luck." He said smiling holding out his hand which I shook. "You're going to need it…" He muttered before going towards the stage. I blinked and quickly followed him onto the battlefield. Luke leapt onto the field as soon as we got there.

"Just don't forget my moves!" Luke cried causing me to grin and tap my hand discretely. On the back I could just make out Luke's moves Bite, Agility, Shadow Ball and Metal Claw. I nodded to myself and grinned.

"By the way just call me Max!" The boy yelled causing me to nod.

"I'm Liz." I said smiling.

"Go Magnemite!" Max yelled unleashing a floating Magnet-like Pokémon.

"It's a steel/electric Pokémon!" Luke shouted at me "my moves won't do much damage so just focus on dodging and making the moves look nice!" I nodded discretely and smiled to myself. It wasn't often that the Pokémon instructed the trainer.

"Let the battle begin!" The announcer cried.

"Supersonic!" Max cried causing me to panic. I didn't have any experience giving orders in a battle. I sort-of understood why the others were so nervous. The Magnemite unleashed a yellow beam heading straight towards Luke.

"Use Agility to dodge!" I shouted quickly. I saw Luke grinning and I knew instantly I had made a good choice. Luke sped forwards easily avoiding the yellow beam stopping beneath Magnemite's body. It was obvious he wanted me to call out an attack but which one? I took a quick glance at my hand and made a decision. "Use Bite!" I cried quickly. Luke looked a bit annoyed at this. I could only imagine because he knew it was going to hurt biting into a body of metal. But he leapt up a bit one of the Magnemite's magnets causing it to look slightly annoyed but not in that much pain.

"Use Spark!" Max cried and his Pokémon began sparking around its body zapping Luke in the process forcing him to let go in pain. "Now Electro Ball!" Magnemite formed a ball of electricity before firing it toward Luke.

"Use Metal Claw!" I cried in panic as Luke stood up and attacked the Electro Ball with a Metal Claw. But this only caused electricity to be zapped everywhere hurting Luke in the process. He glared at me and I remembered his words before the battle. "Use Shadow Ball and fire it into the air!" I cried causing Luke to look at me in confusion before complying. He fired it high towards the ceiling.

"That's no good if it doesn't hit!" Max cried in determination. "Magnemite use Spark again!" Magnemite began floating closer it body crackling with electricity.

"Jump while using Agility!" I cried as Luke jumped while using Agility becoming a black blur. "Now slap that Shadow Ball using your tail!" Luke grinned and somersaulted a few times before slapping the falling Shadow ball at the Magnemite causing the attack to collide with the Magnemite at a high speed.

"And time's up!" The announcer cried causing me to blink. It was over already? I quickly looked at the score board and saw that my score was a lot higher than Max's.

"We won!" Luke cried happily jumping around. "You better watch out Peter because I'm going to thrash you!" He cried causing me to blink.

"Peter?" I questioned "What's he got to do with this?" I asked causing Luke to freeze. Luke was spared from answering when Max walked over to us.

"Great battle Liz," he said smiling offering his hand again which I shook. "Don't get me wrong but before we battle something about you gave me the impression you were a rookie at battling." Max said smiling causing me to flinch. "But I really enjoyed our battle." He said before walking off. I grabbed Luke to make sure he wasn't going anywhere. He was getting some serious questioning by the end of this! I walked off the stage and sat down in the waiting room with a sigh. Battle's really took a lot out of you whether you were the one doing the battle or not.

**Paula's POV**

Liz and Peter had won their battles with relative ease. Now it was my turn as I walked onto the stage with determination in my eyes and Felicity at my heels.

"Now it's Paula Haring VS Harry Plotter!" The announcer cried as I stared at the opponent's space which was empty. Suddenly there was a puff of smoke and a boy with scruffy black hair and glasses wearing a strange pointy hat and a cloak appeared on the other side of the field with an Abra next to him.

"Hello! It's magic time!" He cried holding up his clock to his face causing the crowd to cheer as his Abra walked onto the field.

"Let the battle begin!" the announcer cried.

"Felicity use Bite!" I cried quickly as my Growlithe ran towards the Abra.

"Teleport!" Harry cried and the Abra disappeared just as Felicity tried to bite it. She looked around in confusion for the missing Abra. I cringe knowing that teleport would have cost me points. "Hidden Power!" Harry cried as Abra reappeared. Several spheres formed around Abra and I held my breath in anticipation. Hidden power could end up any type of move. The sphere turned into fire and I grinned.

"Let that hit!" I cried and Felicity nodded. The fire hit Felicity's fur and got absorbed into it thanks to her ability. "Fire Spin!" I cried and Felicity unleashed a huge Fire Spin on the Abra.

"T-teleport!" Harry cried in panic but it was too late as the Abra was hit by Felicity's Fire Spin and knocked out.

"Well… that was easy…" I said in surprise. Felicity yipped happily and jumped into my arms licking my face while Harry disappeared in a puff of smoke. We had made it to the second round. I happily made my way back to the waiting room.

"Congratulations!" Skyla cried happily "All of you managed to make it to the next round!"

"It's not over yet..." Peter said trailing off "Gary's battling Red next." He said solemnly causing me to swallow. I would have to go up against one of them in the next round and they both seemed strong. But I'd rather battle Red then Gary… I focused on the television and noticed the two boys were already standing facing each other glaring.

"The next battle! Gary Levilus VS Red!" The announcer cried as Gary's Lucario walked onto the stage as did Red's Quilava. "Begin!"

"Lucario Extreme Speed!" Gary cried quickly causing the Pokémon to burst forward in a white light.

"Quilava Lava Plume!" Red shouted quickly causing his Quilava to send an explosion of fire blasting Lucario backwards into the air.

"Don't let that affect you!" Gary called harshly causing the Lucario to flip in the air and land wobbly on its feet.

"Use Flame wheel!" Red cried not giving Gary a moments rest.

"Aura Sphere!" Gary cried. Quilava jumped into a flame wheel and sped towards the Lucario. Lucario retaliated immediately by firing a barrage of Aura spheres. Quilava used its speed to avoid a few of the Aura Spheres but was finally hit by one causing it to fly backwards and hit the ground.

"Are you okay?" Red questioned with worry while his Quilava stood up and nodded. "Okay then! Use Swift!" Quilava opened its mouth and fired a series of golden stars at the Lucario.

"Metal Claw!" Gary shouted and Lucario slashed at the oncoming stars with its paws shining. It started slowly approaching the Quilava while swatting the stars away.

"Smokescreen!" Red cried panicking slightly.

"Idiot." Gary muttered grinning as the Quilava covered the stage in smoke. "Lucario finish it with force palm." Gary said calmly.

"What?" Red questioned in confusion "You do realise that Lucario can't see?"

"It doesn't have to." Gary said grinning. "Whereas your Quilava does." Gary said causing Red to blink. Within minutes the smoke had cleared and Quilava was on the ground with swirls in its eyes.

"N-no way!" Red cried in surprise "but how?"

"Lucario can see others auras." Gary stated plainly to Red to gape. "While your Pokémon was stumbling around in the dark Lucario knew where it was the whole time." He stated smugly as his Lucario walked back to his side.

"Return Quilava." Red said sadly returning his Pokémon back to its Poké ball. "You did great." Red said while Munchlax patted his leg in sympathy. "One day I'll defeat you Gary! And I'll make you realise you're wrong about the way you treat Pokémon!" Red said in determination causing Gary to snigger.

"As if I'd listen to a poor savage like you. I've got better places to be then here listening to your talking like he SS Anne II!" Gary said smugly.

"What?" Me and Liz (and Luke but he said it in Pokémon language) questioned in unison hearing this information even though Gary couldn't hear us through the T.V.

"Now that I think about of it he did mention that he had a ticket back in Saffron and he's rich enough…" I mused

"You were actuality listening to him?" Liz questioned in surprise.

"That's the end of the first round!" The announcer cried "The ones going through to the next round are Peter, Elizabeth, Paula and Gary!" she cried causing the crowd to cheer. "The next match is…. Elizabeth VS Peter!" the announcer cried just as Red came back to the room looking like someone had just died.

"I guess we're up again." Liz muttered to Luke causing Luke to nod in determination. I knew the reason he wanted to enter the contest had something to do with Peter but I didn't know the whole reason. I just knew this match knew a lot to him.

**Luke's POV**

Finally I thought to myself with a grin.

"You better explain everything to me after the contest." Liz muttered angrily causing me to nod.

"I'm glad I'm battling you Liz." Peter said with a smile. "But I won't stand down just because you're my friend!"

"And there was me thinking I could have an easy life for once." Liz said rolling her eyes but grinning.

"Afterwards I hope I have enough confidence to ask you something." Peter said seriously causing Liz to blink and me to jump onto the battle field in determination.

"Go Shuppet!" Peter cried releasing his floating puppet Pokémon. If I had my camera I would want to take a few pictures but now wasn't the time for that.

"Begin!" The announcer cried

"Shuppet use Astonish!" Peter cried as his Pokémon disappeared and reappeared in front of me much larger pulling a scary face. I had already anticipated this move so it didn't intimidate me at all and I just grinned cheekily. I saw Peter's points go down out of the corner of my eye.

"Larry use Shadow Ball!" Liz cried and I made several Shadow Balls and fired them towards Shuppet using my tail to give them a slight speed and power boost.

"Use your own Shadow Ball to counter!" Peter cried and Shuppet unleashed its own Shadow Balls. The two attacks collided and despite mine having a speed and power boost the two attacks were equal in strength and neither was more effective than the other. I noticed Liz and Peter's points go down by about an equal amount.

"Use Agility to get close to Shuppet!" Liz cried and I sped forwards as quickly as I could while avoiding the Shadow Balls that Shuppet was firing. I easily managed to get close to Shuppet and grinned. "Metal Claw!" Liz cried

"Got you!" Peter shouted in triumph "Will-o-wisp!" I panicked as the fire sphere began to blast towards me.

"Giant Shadow Ball!" Liz cried and I began forming a Shadow putting my energy into it to make it as big as possible. It formed a good barrier against the will-o-wisp which exploded when they collided with my attack. Fire exploded everywhere and I had to crouch against the ground to prevent being blown away. Then I realised something. My amulet was gone. I spun around in panic. It must have been blown away in the explosion… where was it? "Larry what's wrong?" Liz questioned.

"My lucky amulet you gave me has gone missing!" I cried in panic still looking for it.

"Quick Shuppet Will-o-wisp while it's distracted!" Peter cried

"Lu-Larry!" Liz cried catching herself again before she said my name "You have to use Agility to get out of there!"

"Not yet!" I cried in defiance still scanning the ground.

"I can get you another one!" Liz cried in annoyance "But I can't get another friend…" She added softly causing me to stare at her. Then I noticed it! My amulet was on the ground not too far away! I use Agility grabbing my amulet in my mouth before narrowly avoiding the will-o-wisp in the process.

"Time's up!" The announcer cried causing me to sigh with relief.

"You almost gave me a heart attack." Liz muttered placing the amulet back over my neck causing me to smile softly. "Try to be more careful in the future." She said straightening up. We turned to the points board to see the result. We had won!

"YES! GET IN!" I cried happily "IN YOUR FACE!" I taunted Peter. It didn't matter to me at that point he could understand a word of what I was saying but judging by the look of anger on his face he got the gist of it.

"What was you wanted to tell me earlier?" Liz questioned Peter causing me to freeze and turn to them.

"What does it matter now?" Peter said glumly "I lost…"

"Why does that matter?" Liz questioned with a bored look and a shrug causing Peter to brighten up slightly.

"I-I was just wondering…" Peter stuttered causing me to stare at him in disbelief. This was not happening. "Do you want to travel with me?" He blurted out causing Liz to blink and the crowd started cheering. I had forgotten we were in a public place… "I could protect you… and make you happy…" Peter said trailing off causing the crowd to 'awww'. Liz said softly causing me to gape then she frowned rapidly and kicked Peter down there again causing the crowd to groan and wince in sympathy as Peter fell to the ground.

"No way." Liz said bluntly. I swear I could hear the sound of Peter's heart being crushed. "I am happy with Billy, Paula and Luke." She said causing me to blink and then grin widely. "I don't need anyone to protect me because they're watching my back. Plus I don't need protection anyway." She added frowning before walking off the stage. "You coming Larry?" She called to me and I chased after her my grin never leaving my face.

**Paula's POV**

"Are you sure we're still watching the contest channel?" I questioned in disbelief upon hearing Liz just said.

"Maybe it was some kind of Pokémon playing a trick on you." Skyla suggested smiling softly just as Peter was carried past on a stretcher with a pack of ice on his 'boy parts'. "Guess not…" She said laughing softly. Just then Liz walked in glaring at us as if daring us to talk to her.

"You guys show great loyalty to your friends and Pokémon." Red muttered from the bench causing me to stare at him. I thought he had gone home…. "I might have misjudged you." Red admitted "I'm sorry," he said bowing his head slightly. The three of us were silent unsure how to reply to that.

"That reminds me…" Liz said pulling something out her back pack. I quickly recognized it as an SS Anne II ticket. Liz told me she had given one to Kane which I had no problems with so that meant it was our last spare ticket. Unless Luke and Liz agreed to sneak on board as Pokémon then we could get two more tickets but we'd get into a lot of trouble if discovered. "Here Skyla…" She said passing the ticket to Skyla.

"What?" Skyla questioned in confusion. "What is this and why are you giving it to me?" She questioned.

"It's a ticket to the SS Anne II," I explained "We had two spare tickets but we've already given one away…"

"Luke thought it'd be a good idea to give you the last ticket." Liz said still holding out the ticket. "After all we know you and you seem friendly enough." Liz said with a shrug. Skyla looked at the ticket and smiled before pushing it away.

"Thanks but I can't take this." She said sadly.

"But why?" I questioned somewhat saddened.

"When I was coming to this region… I was in an accident and my father was lost at sea..." Skyla explained causing our eyes to widen. "Now I'm scared of getting on any form of boat…" she added. Seeing our distraught faces she quickly added "Don't feel bad! I wanted to explore this region anyway seeing as I haven't been here for very long!" she stated quickly.

"Well… what do we do with this ticket now?" Liz muttered to me and Luke.

"If you don't mind… can I have it?" Red questioned causing us to blink at him.

"It's not a bad idea…" I muttered "He doesn't seem like a bad person... plus the ship is going to be here in two weeks we're probably not going to encounter anyone else who might want a ticket in that time." I muttered there were a few minutes of silence while Luke and Liz thought it over. Finally they both nodded and Liz handed over the ticket.

"Thanks." Red said grinning "This is great isn't it Munchlax!" He said happily celebrating with his Pokémon.

"Now it's time for Paula Haring VS Gary Levilus! Whoever wins this will battle Elizabeth for the Viridian Ribbon!" The announcer said with excitement. I stood up in determination and headed out to the stage with Felicity close by my heels. I reached the stage where the crowd's cheers seemed deafening and I noticed Gary standing on the other side of the field his Lucario and Raichu by his side. Felicity jumped onto the battle field growling not intimidated by Lucario's power while Lucario walked calmly onto the field looking bored. "Begin!"

"Lucario finish this quickly. Force Palm!" Gary called quickly. Lucario ran towards Felicity its paw glowing.

"Bite Felicity!" I commanded. Felicity jumped up and bit Lucario's arm causing it to flinch in pain. Gary's points went down slightly.

"Use Aura Sphere with the other arm and blast it away." Gary ordered casually.

"Quickly let go and use Fire Spin to counter!" I cried. Lucario managed to conquer the pain in its arm as it formed an Aura Sphere using its free hand. Felicity dropped off Lucario's arm like a seed from a tree and fired a Fire Spin blindly towards Lucario. The Aura Sphere and the Fire Spin collided but the Aura sphere easily powered through the Fire Spin and knocked Felicity off the ground. "No way!" I cried in worry and surprise as my points took a plunge.

"What do you expect?" Gary taunted as Felicity struggled to her feet. I knew she wouldn't be able to take another hit and it was hard to forget that she was still only young. "The difference in power between your Pokémon," he said gesturing to the beaten and bruised Felicity "and my Pokémon," He gestured to Lucario who didn't seem tired. "is just too great! Anyone with half a brain can work out that this is the expected result!" a thought popped into my mind and I blinked.

"But it's not just about power…" I realised in a mutter "This is a Pokémon contest so it's about showing off your Pokémon!" I said grinning "I'm such an idiot for attempting a frontal attack..." I said shaking my head and grinning causing Gary to blink in confusion. He was obviously more used to people arguing with him then agreeing with him. "Felicity use Roar!" I cried causing everyone to blink. I couldn't blame them. Roar was a move used for making a Pokémon run away in the wild and for forcing the trainer to switch in a battle. Neither affects were very useful in a battle with only one Pokémon which couldn't run away.

"GROWLITHE!" Felicity roared in determination unleashing a powerful roar which caused a heavy gust of wind which blew Lucario back slightly. Honestly I knew roar wouldn't do anything but it would boost Felicity's determination. Billy's always telling me whenever he's frustrated a good shout cheers him up.

"Fire Spin on yourself!" I cried as Felicity unleashed what was left of her energy in a Fire Spin which quickly became absorbed into her fur making her grin and seem slightly stronger. I noticed my points go down slightly and I grimaced.

"Extreme Speed!" Gary cried in annoyance

"Fire Spin on yourself again!" I commanded. Lucario sped towards Felicity so fast I thought if you'd blink you'd miss it as Felicity used another Fire Spin on herself which quickly got absorbed into her fur. Lucario was in touching distance of Felicity and I grinned. "Now! Close range! Max power! Fire Spin!" I cried loudly. Felicity unleashed a powerful Fire Spin on Lucario who was too close that it couldn't get away in time.

"Time's up!" the announcer cried causing me to quickly stare towards the board "and the winner is…. Paula Haring!" she cried causing me to blink and the crowd to burst into cheers. I looked at the board and I noticed that my points were just slightly higher than Gary's and the reality sunk in.

"We won! We won!" I cried happily picking up Felicity "You were amazing! Incredible! I couldn't wish for a better Growlithe!" I cried happily while Felicity licked my face a few times before falling asleep. That battle must have taken a lot out of her…. Nurse Joy took her out of my arms and smiled.

"Don't worry I'll fix up your Growlithe before the final match." She said softly causing me to blink. The final match… I had forgotten it was me against Liz and Luke.

**Liz's POV**

I stood on the other side of the battlefield staring at Paula who was holding Felicity's Poké ball in her hand while Luke looked emotionlessly ahead.

"Don't you guys go easy on me!" Paula cried in determination releasing her Growlithe which looked refreshed after its healing.

"We wouldn't dream of it!" Luke cried jumping into the field as well causing me to roll my eyes. Even though she couldn't understand him Paula still grinned at Luke's words.

"Let the battle begin!" The announcer cried.

"Felicity use Fire Spin on yourself!" Paula cried. I knew she was trying to boost Felicity's fire type moves so we couldn't let her do that.

"Use Agility and Metal Claw!" I cried and Luke nodded bursting forward in a blur with his paws shining a metallic glow.

"Use Roar to blow him back!" Paula cried dramatically

"I WONT LOSE!" Felicity screamed in determination unleashing a powerful wind which blew Luke back causing him to crash into the ground.

"You okay?" I questioned causing him to stand and nod.

"Fire Spin!" Paula cried as Felicity fired a powerful Fire Spin towards Luke.

"Dodge with Agility and use Bite!" I cried as Luke had another burst of speed before biting Felicity on the neck causing her to whimper.

"You use Bite as well!" Paula cried as Felicity chomped on Luke's tail causing him to cry in pain.

"Shadow Ball!" I cried as Luke formed a Shadow Ball and fired it at Felicity who was too close that she couldn't dodge causing her to go flying.

"Use Fire Spin!" Paula cried and Felicity's eyes snapped open and she used Fire Spin in Mid-air making a fire tornado only the large part of the tornado was heading straight towards Luke!

"Shadow ball in the centre!" I cried knowing Felicity would be in the centre of the attack. Luke fired a Shadow Ball hitting it with his tail to increase its speed and it blasted towards the centre of the fire tornado. The attack connected blasting Felicity even higher but the fire tornado didn't break up and fell onto Luke causing him to cry out in pain.

"Time's up!" the announcer cried causing me to blink and switch my attention to the score board. I hadn't been watching it at all during the match… "And the winner is….." I looked at the scores and smiled slightly "PAULA HARING!" The announcer cried and the crowd burst into cheers much louder than they had been previously.

"Me?" Paula said in surprise.

"Come up to the podium and take your prize!" the announcer said smiling. Paula nervously got onto the podium and was given a small golden ribbon with red strips of the tassels. She gaped at it for a least a minute before grinning.

"We got the Viridian Ribbon!" Paula cried happily while Felicity jumped at her feet.

"I'm glad we didn't win." I muttered to Luke who grinned.

"Me too." He said nodding seeing Paula's happy face. We celebrated for the rest of the day by going to a café where we got to know Red a lot better. He seemed really friendly so I was glad he was coming on the ship with us. My only concern is that he wouldn't get on with Billy to well… Eventually after our celebratory meal it was time to say goodbye.

"I'm glad you won the contest." Skyla said with a smile towards Paula who grinned.

"What about you Skyla where are you going?" Paula questioned in concern. She and Skyla had become really close even though we had only known her for a short time.

"I'm going now to travel the region! I have to catch up to Billy in badges seeing as I only have one from this city…" Skyla said grinning sheepishly. She took out a skate board from her rucksack and grinned. "Go Linoone!" she cried releasing her Pokémon. She handed the Pokémon a rope but she kept hold of one end. "See you guys later!" She cried happily skating off before her Pokémon began running pulling her as it gain speed quickly before they had disappeared.

"Wow... I want a Linoone…" I said in amazement causing Red to glare at me. "I mean... I hope a Linoone befriends me in the future…" I said hesitantly causing Red to seem satisfied.

"HEY!" A familiar voice cried "You guys!" we all turned to see Billy running up to us followed by Kane.

"I thought you were in hospital." Paula said simply

"Well they finally let us out." Kane said smiling "Any longer and I'd probably die of boredom…" He said trailing off "Now I'm fit ready for the gym!" He cried punching the air with the arm I knew was previously injured.

"You're not facing the gym next I am!" Billy cried in determination

"Hold on!" Luke cried his ears perking up "I want to face the gym as well!" he cried even though he was still in Pokémon form so no one could understand him.

"I'M FACING THE GYM NEXT!" Billy yelled stubbornly causing me to blink. Well his voice was defiantly okay again…

"NO I AM!" Kane yelled in defiance.

"YOU GUYS CAN FACE THE GYM ANYTIME LET SOMEONE ELSE HAVE A TURN!" Luke yelled stubbornly causing Kane to blink in confusion. He was probably wondering why a Pokémon was joining in the argument. The three boys glared at each other in anger.

"Something tells me I'm going to regret taking that ticket…" Red muttered.

_**XP I'm dead…. 23 pages on Microsoft word and 11,371 words… So many appeals… on to what people said in reviews….**_

…_**Random guy Liz is still going on the ship… remember they had two spare tickets? Even if they didn't she could probably sneak on board as a Pokémon (like bubbles pointed out). Anyways they don't have any spare tickets now I've given the last one to Red so the six of them are going to be in the next chapter and for the boat trip. As for operation sink or swim… my lips (or fingers) are sealed! **____**Anyways next chapter is the gym battle! Hopefully it won't be as long as this otherwise I might not be able to even look at a computer again…**_


	34. Lighting doesn't strike thrice!

Disclaimer- you'd think you'd know by now that I don't own Pokémon for the record I don't own Luke, Eric, Red or Bubbles either… Just saying.

Lighting doesn't strike thrice!

**Paula's POV**

"I'M CHALLENGING THE GYM AND THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO IT!" Billy yelled at the top of his lungs. He, Kane and Luke had been training for the gym for the past week but they **would not stop** arguing.

"I'VE BEEN IN HOSPITAL FOR A LOT LONGER THAN YOU HAVE! I WANT TO CHALLENGE THE GYM FIRST!" Kane yelled equally loudly.

"MY POKEMON NEVER GET THE CHANCE TO BATTLE!" Luke cried unhappily. I was somewhat surprised when he first joined in this shouting match but that soon wore off after a few days.

"WHO'S FAULT DO YOU THINK THAT IS?" The two younger boys yelled in unison.

"At this rate we're not going to have any ear drums left…" Liz muttered unhappily from besides me.

"Is it too late to give the ticket back?" Red added his head hanging.

"Yes...yes it is…" I said looking at my arguing friends while patting the disheartened Red on the back.

"Lax…"

"Bree…" Shadow and Munchlax added unhappily their heads also hanging. We trailed after them staying as far away as we could while the boys led the way to the gym. Eventually after what seemed like an eternity of arguments we reach the Vermilion Gym.

"I'M HERE TO CHALLENGE THE GYM LEADER!" Billy yelled even louder if possible while shoving his way through the gym doors.

"NO I AM!" Kane yelled shoving Billy out the way. He seemed so nice back in Mt. Moon I guess his competitive personality took over…

"NO ME!" Luke yelled shoving the two younger boys out the way. Red, Liz and I followed them into the gym and saw that it was empty causing all six of us (eight if you count Shadow and Munchlax) to sweat drop.

"Um… hello?" Billy called in confusion "Is anyone here?"

"Hello?" A familiar gravel-y voice called. "Who's there?" We looked around but we couldn't see anyone.

"Um… Where are you?" Kane questioned.

"I'm behind the wall!" The voice cried loudly causing us to blink.

"Why are you behind a wall?" Luke said asking the question that was on all our minds.

"It's a secret base!" The voice explained "The only trouble is I accidently dropped the key in the trash bag inside the gym… and the doors automatically closed behind me… so now I'm trapped…" The voice sheepishly admitted. "But I did hear there are three challengers out there… so the one who rescues me first I'll battle!" the voice cried causing the three boys to glare at each other and literally dive on the trash bag. A lot of trash was thrown everywhere and I backed off in disgust.

"It's lovely to think that we know those people isn't it?" Liz sarcastically stated just as a banana peel landed on her shoe causing her to kick it away.

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Red stated with a frown "I've never see those people in my life…" he said side stepping an apple core that was thrown his way. His Munchlax picked it up and ate it much to Shadow's disgust.

"Yer… I'm claiming denial as well…" I added ducking to avoid half a cabbage that was thrown (Munchlax quickly swallowed this as well). "Those people defiantly aren't the sort I'd even like to know." I said shuddering as the boys buried deeper into the trash. It might have been my imagination but I thought I heard a cry of protest at my words.

"I GOT IT!" the three boys cried in unison holding up a silver key that they were all holding. They glared at each other and attempted to shove each other off the key.

"Just someone release me already." The voice stated in annoyance. Kane and Luke reluctantly let go of the key while Billy stood up and (after wiping himself from the grim from the thrash bag) put the Key into a small hole in the wall causing the wall to split into two pieces and open up revealing a room full of gym equipment and wires. Out ran a very happy Lt. Surge.

"Thanks so much I thought I might have been trapped there for ages!" He said laughing with relief.

"No problem…" Billy said blinking. "DOES THIS MEAN YOU'LL HAVE A GYM BATTLE WITH ME?" He cried with excitement causing Lt. Surge to blink.

"NO WAY!" Luke cried "I GOT THAT KEY FIRST!"

"I DEFINANTLY GOT IT BEFORE YOU DID!" Kane cried.

"**ENOUGH!**" The gym leader cried causing the three boys to stare at him. "Your team work is terrible…" He stated shaking his head. "In the war you had to rely and trust your team mates otherwise you'd be shot in the back! Pokémon battles are the same! You three obviously don't understand that! You can't even settle your differences without fighting!" He cried in annoyance. "Forget it… I don't feel like battling any of you…" Lt. Surge said looking disappointed

"We understand the importance of team work!" Kane cried standing up "Honestly!"

"Yer... we can work together easily…" Billy stated sounding unsure while glancing at Kane.

"I work together easily with all my Pokémon and my friends…" Luke said blinking while peeling a bit of rotten paper from his elbow.

"Hmmm…" The gym leader hummed while looking them in the eye. "Prove it then." He finally stated causing the three of them to blink. "All of you want to go first and I don't feel like doing three separate battles either… So why not battle together? You three battle as a team against me." he said.

"But isn't that illegal….?" Luke questioned in confusion.

"Normally yes…" Lt. Surge said rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "But there is a style of battle in the Unova region known as the triple battle… it normally involves one trainer sending out three Pokémon and commanding them like that which is what I'm going to do… while you three each send out one of your Pokémon in your own team of three… so I'll be battling a triple battle while you three can fight individual trainer fights only you can attack any Pokémon within range not just the one in front. What do you think?" he questioned

"Sounds complicated…" Kane stated frowning.

"Well this way we all get our battle…" Luke said musing.

"You guys aren't actually considering it are you?" Billy questioned in disbelief "I don't want to work with you-" He cried pointing at Kane "-and I don't want to win gym badges with any help!"

"Accepting help is part of growing up." Lt. Surge said frowning. "Plus, your Pokémon and friends are always trying to help you and it's wrong to push them away." He stated causing Billy to blink. "Anyway like I said I don't feel like battling all of you separately so it's triple battle or no battle." He said folding his arms.

"You can't do that!" Billy cried in protest causing Lt. Surge to raise his eyebrow as if to say 'I just did'. A few minutes of intense silence followed with neither trainer willing to give in. Finally Billy broke eye contact "Fine…" He muttered bitterly.

"Excellent." Lt. Surge said grinning clapping his hands together. "I'll phone the referee to come to the gym while you guys discuss tactics." He said walking away.

"Why couldn't he just phone the referee to release him?" Liz pondered out loud while the three of us who weren't battling went to sit in the audience stand while the boys talked (well they were having more arguments then talking) on the battle field. Eventually thirty minutes had past and the three boys were standing on one side of the field while Lt. Surge stood on the other.

"This match will take place between the gym leader Lt. Surge and the challengers Kane, Billy and Luke!" The referee cried gesturing to the three boys. Kane was on the right; Billy was in the middle while Luke was on the left while Shadow sat by his heels. "The gym leader will use six Pokémon while each challenger can only use two!"

"Well it still adds up to a six on six battle…" Red said leaning forward. "This should be an interesting battle." He said grinning.

"If one of the challengers loses both of their Pokémon then the other challengers will continue the battle until a winner is determined! When all Pokémon of either the challengers or the gym leader are knocked out then the battle will be over!" The referee cried "Let the battle begin!"

"Let's give 'em a shock to remember!" Lt. Surge cried holding two Poké balls in his right hand and another Poké ball in his left. "Go Voltorb, Pikachu, Magnemite!" he cried releasing Voltorb in front of Kane, Pikachu in front of Billy and Magnemite in front of Luke.

"Let's get going!" Billy and Kane cried in unison causing Billy to glare at his rival and Kane to grin.

"Go Charlie!" Kane cried releasing the Clefairy he had caught at Mt. Moon.

"Go Steve!" Billy yelled releasing his Eevee.

"Blaze snap shot!" Luke yelled releasing his Charmander.

"Luke's probably in the best situation out of the three of them." Red mused

"Why?" I questioned in confusion.

"Generally in a triple battle the one's on the left and the right can only attack the Pokémon in front of them and the Pokémon in the middle because it's very difficult for them to go all the way to the other side without getting attacked. So Luke's probably going to attack that Magnemite which is a steel type and he has a fire type." Red explained "It's going to be super effective."

"The gym leader gets the first move!" The referee cried starting the battle.

**Luke's POV**

"Alright it's been ages since my last gym battle!" Steve cried in excitement.

"Didn't you get pawned in your last gym battle?" Blaze questioned with raised eyebrows

"I didn't get pawned!" Steve cried in protest "How about you battle that Alakazam see how well you do! And wait! Who told you?" Steve questioned Blaze causing him to grin.

"I'm not too sure I feel comfortable working with you two…" Charlie said rubbing the back of his head

"Quiet pinkie!" The two other Pokémon snapped in unison.

"I didn't choose to be pink!" The Clefairy cried in annoyance. "It's sooo irritating how everyone assumes I'm female and like ribbons and stuff!" he cried stomping his feet "What's worse is that if I ever evolve I'll look a million times worse…" Charlie said glumly

"Wait your male?" Blaze questioned in disbelief causing Charlie to glare at him.

"Voltorb use Rollout on Clefairy! Pikachu use Quick Attack on Charmander! Magnemite use Thundershock on Charmander!" Lt. Surge cried turning my attention back to the battle.

"He wants Blaze out the way!" Shadow cried causing me to nod.

"Charlie use Protect!" Kane cried

"Steve attack Pikachu with your own Quick Attack!" Billy yelled

"Blaze use Brick break on Magnemite!" I ordered. The six Pokémon plunged into action hearing our requests. Voltorb rolled towards Charlie while he produced a light blue barrier causing the Voltorb to bounce off the barrier like it was a pinball. Steve charged towards Pikachu while Pikachu charged towards Blaze unfortunately the rolling Voltorb crashed into both of them knocking them out of the way like they were bowling pins. Meanwhile, the Magnemite fired a powerful electric blast towards Blaze whose paw started to glow white as he karate chopped the blast away straight towards Charlie! It hit Charlie behind his barrier causing him to glow with electricity. Blaze sweat dropped at his mistake just as Magnemite fired another Thundershock hitting Blaze in the stomach causing him to cry out in pain. The battle field looked like a disaster area.

"What the hell just happened?" Billy and Steve questioned in unison. Then they turned to Kane and his Clefairy in unison with a menacing glare.

"This is all your fault if you hadn't ordered Protect Steve wouldn't have been hit by the Rollout!" Billy cried in frustration

"You sent a freakin' Voltorb into my back!" Steve yelled

"I didn't know Voltorb would go towards your Eevee!" Kane defended "I was trying to defend Charlie which failed miserably anyway seeing as Charmander decided to send that Thundershock straight towards us!" He cried glaring at me.

"Hey don't blame Blaze he was trying to defend himself from two different directions!" I objected

"I can still feel the electricity running through my fur…" Charlie complained

"You're telling me…" Blaze commented stretching his limbs.

"Shut up it's your fault this happened!" Charlie shouted "you sent that electricity towards me on purpose! Your own stupidity made you get hit as well!"

"What did you say?" Blaze growled

"You heard me." Charlie said smugly.

"Everyone attack the Eevee!" Lt. Surge cried reminding me that we were in a battle "Voltorb Swift! Pikachu Thunderbolt! Magnemite Mirror shot!"

"Charlie counter Pikachu's Thunderbolt with your Thunderbolt!" Kane ordered

"Steve dodge with Quick Attack!" Billy yelled

"Blaze use Flamethrower on Magnemite's Mirror Shot!" I commanded. Lt. Surge's team moved as if they were one unit moving in sync with each other. The Voltorb span on the spot unleashing a river of stars while Pikachu fired and powerful electric blast in the middle of the stars. Magnemite added to this by firing its own silver beam and the triple attack headed straight toward Steve. Blaze fired a powerful Flamethrower colliding with the triple attack but it was doing almost nothing to hold it back. Charlie added a powerful Thunderbolt which slowed the attack down a lot while Steve used Quick attack to dart away to safety. Unfortunately it was still only two Pokémon's attacks against three and the powerful attack quickly fell on Blaze and Charlie.

"Are you okay?" Kane yelled in panic

"Blaze!" I cried

"Ouch ouch ouch….." Charlie said rubbing his wings while standing up in pain

"I think my flame's been cut in half…" Blaze said looking at his tail while wincing in pain.

"I'm glad you're okay…" Kane said sighing with relief.

"Okay?" Charlie questioned his wing flapping angrily behind him "I'm not okay! I don't like these guys messing up our battle!" He cried pointing at Steve and Blaze causing them to frown.

"I could take on those three Pokémon all by myself I don't need your ungrateful help!" Blaze resorted

"Nobody asked you guys to but in on my gym battle!" Steve shouted in anger. "You're too busy bouncing around like the sugar plum fairy to be useful!" He cried nodding at Charlie causing him to grit his teeth. "And you're just a walking fire hazard!" he said nodding at Blaze as his tail flame seemed to increase slightly.

"You haven't done anything in our battle yet expect run around!" Blaze resorted

"And you guys have done soooo much more haven't you?" Steve said rolling his eyes

"We've done a lot more then you have!" Charlie cried.

"Do you guys want to give up?" Lt. Surge questioned cockily "Even your Pokémon are arguing now!" He pointed out.

"We won't give up!" Billy yelled "Steve ignore the other Pokémon use Take down on Voltorb!" He cried

"Stupid fairy!" Steve yelled ignoring Billy's orders

"Mangy mutt!" Charlie resorted

"Lazy Pokémon!" Blaze cried causing his 'teammates' to glare at him.

"Stupid name!" They cried in unison

"Oh no!" Shadow cried in horror seeing Blaze begin to tremble.

"What did you say?" Blaze questioned growling with his limbs trembling and his tail fire growing steadily larger.

"Your name is stupid!" Steve continued oblivious to the danger "Stupid! Stupid! Cliché name!~" Steve sang as he taunted Blaze.

"Right! That's it! I've had it!" Blaze roared his flame tail turning blue.

"Quickly return!" I cried attempted to recall Blaze but he dodged the beam of the Poké ball.

"Take this!" he cried unleashing a powerful Dragon Pulse attack straight towards Charlie and Steve.

"Crap!" The two of them cried in panic narrowly jumping out of the beam's way as it hit the opposing team's Voltorb knocking it out.

"Voltorb!" Lt. Surge cried in horror. He hadn't even seen the attack coming.

"There's more where that came from!" Blaze cried angrily glaring at his teammates while charging up another Dragon Pulse attack.

"Return!" I cried again this time hitting Blaze with the red beam causing everyone to sigh with relief. "We should probably all switch our Pokémon." I suggested "Those three don't seem to get along at all…" even as I spoke the Eevee and Clefairy were squabbling with each other. I had just stopped listening.

"You're probably right…"Kane admitted reluctantly before withdrawing his Clefairy. Billy gritted his teeth before withdrawing Steve as well.

"The gym leader has lost one Pokémon and the challengers have decided to switch Pokémon!" The referee cried "Please send out your new Pokémon." He requested

"Let's go Electabuzz!" Lt. Surge cried unleashing a huge yellow and black Pokémon in front of Kane.

"Your turn Shadow." I said smiling fondly as Shadow walked onto the field.

"Let's go Josephine!" Kane cried releasing a Nidorina which looked fairly powerful. She cried out in determination.

"Let's get going Daniel!" Billy cried releasing his small Cubone who looked around nervously.

"Daniel?" I repeated in disbelief.

"Where's mama?" Daniel questioned in panic before he spotted Liz in the crowd and he sighed with relief.

"Don't worry I have a plan." Billy said grinning triumphantly.

"If you're sure…" I said hesitantly before facing the battlefield.

**Billy's POV**

"Let the battle begin!" The referee cried restarting the action.

"All of you triple Thunderbolt on the opponent that's in front of you!" Lt. Surge cried in determination

"Dodge it!" Kane and Luke cried with worry while I grinned. The Thunderbolts headed straight towards our Pokémon as Daniel held his club towards the sky. The Thunderbolts heading towards Luke and Kane's Pokémon started to change direction until all three were heading towards Daniel.

"What's going on?" the gym leader questioned in confusion just as the triple Thunderbolts hit Daniel's out stretched club causing it to lit up for a few seconds but causing Daniel no damage.

"Daniel's ability must be Lighting rod!" Luke cried catching onto my plan

"Lighting rod?" Kane questioned in confusion.

"I looked it up on my Pokedex." I stated smugly "It's where all electric type moves get attracted towards Daniel and because he's a ground type it doesn't really affect him." I explained

"That's actually… smart," Luke stated in disbelief

"I can think of smart things!" I cried in protest.

"So now we don't have to worry about electric type moves!" Kane cried smiling

"Don't be too sure about that!" Lt. Surge cried "Electabuzz ThunderPunch on Nidorina! Pikachu Quick Attack on Umbreon! Magnemite Mirror shot on Cubone!"

"Josephine counter ThunderPunch with Horn Attack!" Kane yelled

"Daniel spin your club around for defence! Then get in close and use Bone Club!" I ordered

"Shadow use Faint Attack and Confuse Ray!" Luke yelled. The Pokémon charged at each other in determination. The Electabuzz charged toward Josephine so fast I almost missed it and punched its right arm filled with electricity. Josephine's horn began glowing and she jumped barely managing to block the attack in time but the Electabuzz just punched Josephine with its other arm sending her flying.

"Oh no!" Kane cried in horror "Lighting rod must not work on psychical electric type moves!"Meanwhile, the Magnemite fired a powerful silver beam straight towards Daniel who began spinning his club around barely keeping the attack at bay as he was slowly pushed back by the force. Shadow disappeared into thin air and reappeared behind Pikachu and Magnemite causing them both to spin around in surprise stopping the Magnemite from attacking Daniel. Josephine managed to stand up in recovery and her and Daniel started to charge towards the opposite team. Shadow unleashed a powerful confuse ray engulfing both the Magnemite and the Pikachu causing them to stagger around in confusion. Daniel jumped up and slammed his club into the Magnemite causing it to crash into the ground. Electabuzz attempted to hit Josephine with another ThunderPunch but she narrowly avoided the attack before slamming her horn into Electabuzz's stomach.

"Alright!" The three of us cried in victory before blinking. We were actually working well as a team….

"As if it would be that easy!" Lt. Surge shouted furiously "My Pokémon are soldiers they can take a little pain!" He cried as his Pokémon stood up weakly.

"You guys I think I can take on the Pikachu..." I said hesitantly causing the two of them to look at me. "I mean I do have a Pichu and Pikachu's just its evolved form…" I explained and the two of them nodded.

"Makes sense… "Luke admitted grinning.

"Just make sure you don't get thrashed by the other two Pokémon out there." Kane said raising his eyebrows.

"Whatever. Just cover my back!" I said and the two of them nodded smiling. "Daniel use Bone club on Pikachu!" I cried and Daniel took a determined look as if he sensed my feelings and ran (rather slowly embarrassingly) towards Pikachu with his club raised.

"Don't let it get close!" Lt. Surge cried in determination. "Electabuzz use Low Kick! Pikachu use Light Screen! Magnemite use Thunderbolt!" Despite being confused the Pikachu put up a powerful barrier causing Daniel to smack into it and the Barrier enclosed around Daniel so he couldn't escape as the Electabuzz ran towards Daniel its leg glowing. The Magnemite began spinning and unleashed what looked like a razor wind straight towards Daniel. I bit my lip with worry. There was no way Daniel could dodge…

"Now!" Luke and Kane cried in unison as Shadow burst through the floor in a Dig attack followed by Josephine as they appeared by the trapped Daniel.

"You didn't really think we'd leave you all by yourself right?" Luke questioned grinning "Shadow use Faint attack on Pikachu!"

"Josephine defend Cubone! Use sludge bomb on Electabuzz and stop Magnemite with Double Kick!" Kane cried clenching his fist with determination. Shadow disappeared into thin attack again just to reappear to slam into Pikachu causing it to cry out in pain and the barriers surrounding Daniel to disappear. During this, Josephine fired a powerful sludge bomb towards Electabuzz causing it to be blasted backwards. Josephine quickly turned to face Magnemite as it fired a Thunderbolt towards her. Luckily for us the attack automatically went towards Daniel becoming absorbed into his club. This allowed Josephine to attack Magnemite (who couldn't dodge because it was confused) with a double kick attack which was super effective.

"Grrr…" Lt. Surge growled frowning "They've driven us in a tight corner! Sorry guys we'll have to go for the suicide side mission! Magnemite use Explosion!"

"GET OUT OF THERE!" The three of us cried in panic as Magnemite unleashed a huge explosion engulfing all the Pokémon that were close by. That included all of our Pokémon and all of Lt. Surge's Pokémon as they were all in a huddle. We could only hope that as our Pokémon hadn't taken a lot of damage that they would somehow pull through…

**Liz's POV**

"I wouldn't like to be caught in that explosion…" Munchlax said biting his lip. I search the smoke engulfing the battle field for any sign of movement.

"If the Pokémon did survive they would be really weak and probably wouldn't last in a battle against Lt. Surge's remaining Pokémon." Red pointed out

"But if they did it would be six Pokémon against two." Paula said with raised eyebrows "Even if all six Pokémon are tired Lt. Surge would be at a huge disadvantage."

"Yer but Steve, Blaze and Charlie don't work well as part as a team." I piped in

"You've remembered all the Pokémon's names already?" Red questioned sounding surprised "You have really good memory…"

"Bear in mind that I do travel with two of the trainers in the field." I pointed out with raised eyebrows causing Red to hide his face under his hat in embarrassment. The smoke on the field began to clear and it was a grim sight. All of Lt. Surge's Pokémon had been knocked out as had Daniel and Josephine. Shadow was the only one standing but his legs were shaking and wobbling badly.

"I'm sorry guys." Lt. Surge said returning his three Pokémon.

"Shadow!" Luke cried with worry running onto the field

"I'm… fine…" Shadow croaked out.

"There's no way I'm believing that." Luke said sternly "Come on you're sitting out for the rest of the battle." He said picking Shadow up before putting him down outside the field.

"I've never seen a bond like theirs." Red said with wonder "It's almost like Luke can understand Shadow…" he said causing Paula and I to look at each other.

"Daniel return." Billy said returning Daniel to his Poké ball sounding upset. "You did great." Billy said looking at the Poké ball.

"Josephine come back." Kane said returning Josephine to the Poké ball. "You were awesome." He added.

"The trainer's shall send out their new Pokémon!" The referee cried

"Let lighting strike!" Lt. Surge cried "Go Raichu and Pachirisu!" he cried releasing a powerful looking Raichu in front of Billy and a little blue squirrel thing in front of Luke. Billy got out his Pokedex '_No data available in current Pokedex.'_

"What?" We all questioned in confusion

"That Pokedex is either rubbish or broken." I said rolling my eyes.

"Well I had to buy it myself!" Billy cried in protest "I couldn't afford the very latest model so I just brought what I could."

"But it's worked okay in the past..." Luke pointed out.

"Well it's got all the data for Kanto and Johto Pokémon. About 90% of Hoenn Pokémon and only around 50% for Sinnoh Pokémon. There's no data for Pokémon in Unova…" Billy explained sadly.

"Okay then…" Kane said "This would be so much easier if you got a Pokedex from Professor Oak like I did." Kane said causing Billy to glare at him.

"I don't need cheap freebies." Billy said folding his arms stubbornly as Kane got out his Pokedex _'Pachirisu the EleSquirrel Pokémon. Pachirisu has a large amount of electricity flowing through its body and can run extremely quickly despite its short limbs.'_

"Have you quite finished with your Pachirisu lesson?" Lt Surge questioned with his arms folded "Though learning about your enemy is a good military tactic too much information can make you overconfident." Lt. Surge pointed out causing the boys to glare at him as they released their Pokémon. Out came Charlie the Clefairy, Steve the Eevee and Blaze the Charmander.

"You guys again?" Steve questioned in disbelief "I was hoping to see someone I actually liked next time I was released!"

"Believe me the feelings mutual." Charlie muttered bitterly. "Especially seeing as the walking torch decided to fry us last time we were here."

"You guys deserved it." Blaze said stubbornly folding his arms. The three Pokémon glared at each other causing their trainers to sigh.

"This isn't time to be fighting!" Billy cried causing Steve to raise his eyebrows

"You're singing a different tune." Steve stated.

"Billy's not singing…" Blaze stated in confusion causing Charlie to face palm himself.

"I know it's an expression." Steve said rolling his eyes "It's because he was arguing himself before and now he's lecturing us about not arguing. So he's singing a different tune." Steve explained simply

"Let's even up the numbers shall we?" Lt. Surge questioned oblivious to the Pokémon's conversations while grinning arrogantly. "Both of you attack Charmander! Pachirisu use Electro ball! Raichu use Thunderbolt!"

"Blaze use Flamethrower on the Thunderbolt!" Luke cried

"Steve use Takedown on Raichu!" Billy yelled

"Charlie use Double slap to knock the Electro ball away!" Kane shouted. Raichu fired a powerful Thunderbolt towards Blaze who quickly countered with a powerful Flamethrower and the two attacks battled for dominance. Pachirisu fired an Electro ball to boost Thunderbolt's power but before the two attacks combined but Charlie bounced forwards and slapped the electro ball back towards the Pachirisu who darted off at high speed before it could hit. Meanwhile, Steve charged towards Raichu while glowing red with a takedown attack. Suddenly the Pachirisu appeared in front of him at astonishing speed and fired an Electro Ball which hit Steve dead on causing him to go flying. Blaze managed to push the Thunderbolt back with his Flamethrower but the Pachirisu fired an electro ball at Blaze as well knocking him backwards and giving Raichu a chance to dodge the flamethrower. Pachirisu then fired a final electro ball at Charlie who had no chance to doge and was hit as well

"No way!" they boys (both human and Pokémon) cried in unison.

"From the start the Pachirisu is the real problem…" Billy said sounding stunned while the Pachirisu giggled.

"Just give it up boys." She said winking "Me and my handsome hunk here-"she gestured to the Raichu "-are the ultimate combination! There's no way you three losers can beat us." She said somehow flicking her tail with her tiny arms.

"What?" The Pokémon growled and they stood up weakly.

"I vote for a temporary truce until we beat the crap out of these guys." Blaze said punching his fist into his palm as his tail fire increased.

"I agree completely." Steve said grinning menacingly showing off his sharp canines.

"Let's destroy them and move on with our lives." Charlie said his wings flapping behind him.

"Let's take out the Raichu first!" Kane yelled "Charlie use Ice beam!"

"Steve use Quick attack!" Billy cried

"Blaze use Brick break!" Luke ordered

"Raichu use Thunderbolt! Pachirisu use Quick Attack! Both of you attack the Pokémon that you want to!" Lt. Surge commanded.

"He's done that on purpose to create confusion." Red realised. The Raichu fired another thunderbolt this time going towards Charlie but Blaze leapt in front of the attack and used Brick Break to send the lighting in another direction. Meanwhile, the Pachirisu and Steve charged towards each other both using Quick attack. Charlie fired an ice beam right underneath Pachirisu's feet causing it to slip and fall just before Steve slammed into her sending her flying. Just as she was sent into the air the lighting from Raichu's attack hit her causing her to cry out in pain.

"Now! While the Pachirisu's injured everyone attack Raichu!" Billy cried in determination "Use Takedown Steve!"

"Go up close and use Double slap!" Kane yelled

"Use Brick break!" Luke ordered.

"Raichu use Thunderbolt so they won't get close!" Lt. Surge cried "Hurry up and stand Pachirisu!" The Raichu fired a series of Thunderbolts all of which were dodged easily because all of our team was faster than the Raichu. Steve slammed into Raichu which a Takedown attack causing it to fly into the air. Then Charlie bounced up and slapped the Raichu dozens of times midair before slapping it into the ground with a crash. Raichu sat up obviously dizzy before it was karate chopped on the head with a powerful Brick Break knocking it out. The Pachirisu sat up and squeaked in fear seeing the Raichu knocked out as the Pokémon advanced towards her.

"Show mercy!" The Pachirisu begged "you wouldn't hit the poor innocent face of a lady would you?" She questioned looking at the Pokémon with big eyes. They looked at each other with neutral expressions.

"Of course we would." The three Pokémon said in unison giving sinister grins before attacking her until she fainted.

"The gym leader has lost all his Pokémon therefore victory goes to the challengers!" The referee cried

"Yes!" The humans and Pokémon cried in unison.

"Ahem." Steve coughed catching his teammates' attention. "Let's never speak of teamwork again." Steve said darkly and the other two nodded.

"Here are your badges." Lt. Surge said smiling handing the boys a badge that looked like a flower with an orange centre and yellow petals.

"We all won the Thunder badge!" The boys cried in victory holding their badges to the sky.

"Plus we finally get to go on the SS. Anne!" Paula cried with excitement

"Oh I know that ship." Lt. Surge said with a smile. "There's going to be a battle tournament on board… you know you three should enter…" He said musing

"A battle tournament?" Billy questioned with excitement

"It sounds interesting I might just enter myself…" Red mused

"They'll be lots of rich and famous trainers on board so it won't be something you'll want to miss!" Lt. Surge said grinning

"Don't worry we wouldn't miss it for the world!" Billy cried in excitement.

**Meanwhile elsewhere...**

**Amethyst's POV**

I trudged through the undergrowth sniffing tracking the scent through the forest. It was the dead of night but I still had no trouble making out the trees and the rocks. I heard a twig snapping and I paused sitting up and listening. An innocent Spinarak scuttled past and I sighed and continued following the scent through the trees. Not one Pokémon woke as I passed through I was very good about being quiet. Eventually I came to what I was tracking a small clearing in the middle of the forest where a boy and a Vulpix slept under the stars. I silently crept up to them and nudged the Vulpix awake.

"What is it?" The Vulpix said groggily then it opened it eyes and they widened. "You." It said growling at me. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't wake up Eric right now." it said still growling causing me to smile.

"By the time he wakes I will be gone." I said smoothly with my de-evolution still growling at me. "There is a plot." I said reluctantly "A plot coming so big it might explode." I said causing the Vulpix to roll its eyes.

"There's always a plot and it always leads Eric and me into danger." It said causing anger to flare up in me.

"This isn't a little forest fire or dam that's about to collapse this is serious!" I cried in annoyance.

"And there was me thinking those things were pretty serious..." the Vulpix muttered

"Those were just preparations for the bigger plot to check that I had made the right choice." I said rolling my eyes. "Anyway this time it is serious and I need you to listen to me. In a week from now a ship will leave Vermillion city named the SS Anne II. You and the boy will need to board this ship and help to stop the events that will transpire." I lifted one of my tails towards my mouth and pulled out a silver ticket inside. "This will allow you to board the ship." I said simply and the Vulpix sniffed at the ticket.

"Why should we?" it asked causing me to frown. "And what is this plot?"

"You should know by now I can't tell you that." I said seriously causing the Vulpix to roll his eyes. "What I can tell you is that there will be others like Eric on board this ship and with the events that are about to transpire they will need as much help as they can get. Your cursed one is the one of closest to the plot so he has to help." I stated before walking away.

"I still didn't say we agreed!" the Vulpix cried in annoyance.

"Be thankful you get any information at all!" I cried back in annoyance and hurried away camouflaging myself into the forest.

"You tell them too much." A familiar voice said causing me to sigh.

"I should have known you were listening in White." I sighed as a White Pichu with golden eyes, ear tips and tail stepped out of the undergrowth causing me to blink. "I thought you were working with Black?" I asked in surprise.

"She had to go and see Gold." White said simply

"Gold? Why?" I questioned curiously. I had never met Gold but the newest members tended to be really rule obeying for the first century or so. Like White is now. I was an expectation when I first started… but generally you get bored after the first century or so and stopped being such a goody-goody. You stilled obeyed but with more reluctance you took your time getting to missions… you have a bit of fun… make friends… Once again I was the expectation to this and I didn't like friends or rules. Then again I was basing this off Black and our old leader who had 'retired' fourteen years ago. We were the only ones who I knew of that had done more than 100 years of service. White had been brought in a year after our old leader decided to retire.

"It seems she's taken a leaf out of your book and just tell her cursed one information." White said with a disapproving frown causing me to grin slightly.

"Technically I didn't tell my cursed one any information I just told his Pokémon." I pointed out causing White to roll his eyes.

"Enough." White snapped causing me to glare at him. "You tell your cursed one too much information." White repeated seriously causing me to growl slightly.

"Who died and put you in charge?" I question my fur bristling. The guy always annoyed me with his peachiness. I hadn't even known him for that long!

"I'm not even going to dignify you with an answer to that." White said rolling his eyes. We both knew who had put him in charge but neither of us spoke.

"If we were deciding the leader based on who had served the longest-" I began

"Then Black would be in charge." White said simply. "Then you, then me and finally Gold" he said simply. "But Black's lazy and you're not trust worthy yet. I wonder who that leaves?" White said teasing me slightly. I growled softly but took no action. It would be so easy to curse him with one of my nine tails… but no. I needed to control my temper if I ever wanted to complete this task. I started doing some breathing techniques I had learnt long ago to calm myself and bottle my rage. Within minutes I felt no emotion again.

"So where are they then?" I questioned "Black and Gold?" I clarified

"Somewhere along Route 7." White said twitching his ears and I raised my eyebrows.

"Will they make it in time?" I question causing White to shrug

"Who knows… but they'll need as much help as possible... if they can get there it will be helpful." White stated

"If you say so…" I replied doubtfully. A few minutes of silence past between us.

"Amethyst- "White began

"No," I cut off.

"We'll need you." White explained

"You seem to be doing alright by yourselves." I stated

"But for how long?" White questioned quietly. "Please join us Amethyst. Black and I could us your help." I sighed deeply.

"I will join you eventually…" I stated "But not today. I'll probably go crazy if I join you rag-tag team straight away when it's not needed. I work better alone anyway." I said causing White to nod in disappointment.

"I'll be seeing you again." He said causing me to nod. The two of us split ways as I headed deeper into the dark forest.

**Gold's POV**

I jumped from tree to tree while the girl and her electric mice chased after me.

"Wait!" She yelled causing me to roll my eyes. Does anyone ever wait when someone yells wait? I jumped onto towards another tree branch almost missing it before catching it with my paws and using it to swing another branch. An easy manoeuvre for someone with my… unique skills. Suddenly one of the electric mice (the one with the spiky ear) appeared in front of me while the girl and the other mouse appeared behind me. A trap! I bit my lip with worry and concern… Just kidding! I grinned and gave giant leap and easily jumped several meters backwards and landed on a branch that was far away without looking. That trap was too easy to escape from. "It escaped!" the girl cried in surprise causing me to sigh. "Sparky, Sparkette use Charge beam!" she cried. I'm surprised she knew their moves… I didn't choose her because she was a battler… The Pichus unleashed two streams of electricity heading straight towards me and I jumped easily out the way.

"Wait!" I cried "I want to talk to you!" I cried in frustration while landing back on the tree branch.

"You want to talk to me?" The girl repeated in confusion and I nodded rapidly. "How do I know you're not going to finish the job and turn me completely into a Buneary?" She cried causing me to blink.

"It would defeat the purpose of travelling all through these woods just to find you guys." I stated simply. "Plus, I'm pretty sure I can't do that…" I added trailing off before reminding myself of my task. "Anyway I- well not really me- more like thousands of innocent people need your help." I explained.

"Wait what?" The girl asked in confusion

"In a week from now the SS Anne II will depart from Vermillion City. You and your friends need to be on board." I explained

"Isn't that the world famous ship?" The girl questioned in disbelief "How am I meant to get on board I don't have a ticket…"

"Do I look like I carry around tickets to the SS Anne?" I cried jumping up and down annoyed at the girl's despondent attitude. There were a few minutes of silence while everyone stared at me.

"You don't look like you could curse a human into turning into a Pokémon either…" The Pichu who looked like a Pikachu pointed out.

"Whatever." I said shrugging "Just turn into a Pokémon and sneak on board. I don't care. Anyway it's important that you go!" I cried pointing at her and I noticed she looked quite annoyed. "You know…." I stated "They will be others like you on board…." I stated with mischief in my eyes.

"Really?" The girl questioned with a mixture of hopefulness and confusion.

"Ah there you are." A familiar voice stated causing us all to turn to see the Black Eevee with silver tipped ears and tail causing me to grin nervously. "Now it's my turn to hide and your turn to slog around the forest for weeks on end." She stated her tail thrashing against the ground in annoyance.

"A black Eevee?" The girl questioned in confusion

"Gold." Black said loudly in a commanding voice. "Time to go." She said simply.

"Tar-tar for now~!" I sang as I leapt from the tree.

"Hey wait!" The girl cried "What others?" She questioned "And why do I need to be on board that ship?" she said approaching me.

"See this is what you get for giving her information." Black pointed out. "Now every time she sees you she'll be begging for more... like when you feed a stray food… it always comes back."

"Well I sure as hell wasn't going to make her chase me all the way to Vermillion!" I resorted

"Good point." Black admitted "It would be exhausting." She said causing me to grin. I'm glad Black had came to get me instead of White. That guy was too uptight sometimes and didn't realise that rules were made to be broken. "Come on we should leave." She said bounding away while I chased after her.

"Wait!" The girl yelled as she and the mice attempted to give chase but we soon lost them in the thick undergrowth.

"Come on we've got another few weeks of slogging through this forest yet. Which means even more mud through my beautiful fur coat." She said in boredom.

"Where are we going?" I questioned

"To go see White of course." She said grinning. I groaned loudly. It seemed like I wouldn't get let off the hook so easily…

_**I was originally thinking about doing a different chapter for Billy's and Luke's battles and skipping Kane's by saying he already won the badge but then I thought of a boss idea to try writing a triple battle. The next chapter is the first chapter of the boat trip (horary!) but it will probably be quite long so it may take a while to type it all. Many, many characters will appear so pay attention! In will probably be very long as well T.T so it might take me a while to update but I'm on my holiday now so who knows… Charmander can learn Dragon Pulse via breeding and can learn brick break via TM Clefairy can learn Protect, Ice beam and Thunderbolt via TM and Magnemite can learn Explosion via TM.**_


	35. All land is connected to the ocean!

Disclaimer- why do you people even read this? I don't own that thing called Pokémon.

All land is connected to the ocean!

**Liz's POV**

The six of us gasped as the ship came into view. It was a giant white ship with great black pipes and the word _SS Anne II_ written in gold on the side. There was a giant crowd outside the ship waving goodbye to friends and relatives. Billy and Kane ran in front of the group in eager anticipation.

"Come on!" Kane shouted in joy.

"We have to sign up for the battle tournament!"Billy cried in determination.

"Never mind the tournament I can't wait to eat all the five star foods!" Munchlax said sobering

"So much for eternal rivals."I muttered from besides Paula ignoring Munchlax. "Are you sure you two weren't separated at birth?" I questioned them.

"Of course this is just a mutual truce!" Billy cried in anger. "He'll never be my friend!" Billy shouted to which Kane merely smiled back. Billy pointed at Kane in determination. "As soon as we get in this tournament you're going down!"

"Don't forget you have to get past me first!" Red pointed out to the two of them.

"And me." Luke said with a determined grin and his fist clenched. "This should be a really interesting tournament." With that said sparks seemed to come out of their eyes.

"But there are other things to do on this ship!" Paula cried with glee "I mean it's not every day we get to go on a five star cruise ship free of charge!" The boys all ignored Paula and continued glaring at each other and I sighed in defeat.

"If you lot don't stop glaring at each other you won't get the chance to even sign up." I said causing the boys to all snap up.

"We'll finish this on the battle field." Red said in determination.

"Right." Kane, Luke and Billy said in unison and we went up a small ramp and boarded the great ship.

"Hold it!" a man with a security badge stopped us. "Let's see your tickets please." He said and we handed them over causing him to smile and punch a hole in each one. "Keep a hold of these they may ask to see them again while you're on board." He explained as he looked us over and his eyes came to a rest on Shadow and Munchlax. Wordlessly he got out a tape measure and measured Shadow's height and wrote it down in a small notepad. Then he got out a scale. "Stand on here please." He said addressing Shadow and putting the scale on the ground. Shadow blinked in confusion and got onto the scale as the man wrote down his weight. "Right you can go on through." The man said with a smile.

"What was all that about?" Luke asked the man.

"Well there is a strict protocol on the size and weight of the Pokémon let on board the ship. Lots of people want to have their Pokémon wandering around but there's just not enough room and if the ship is weighed down by all the trainers, Pokémon and luggage it will never move!" The man said "But your Umbreon is just small and light enough to pass the test." the guard said with a smile. "Now I'll have to measure you." he said addressing the Munchlax repeating the measuring and weighing process "Sorry you'll have to return this Pokémon to its Poké ball it's too heavy." He said causing Munchlax to frown.

"But the five star foods!" Munchlax whined unhappily with tears forming in his eyes

"You heard the security guard buddy." Red said patting his Pokémon on the head before returning it to its Poké ball.

"Okay now that that's done welcome abroad the SS Anne II!" the guard greeted with a smile letting us on board the ship. We rushed on board in excitement almost knocking the guard down in the process. Inside the ship was even more amazing. There were great big chandeliers on the ceiling with many finely dressed people talking quietly to each other. I felt underdressed as many of the people glared at us. We entered the dining room and there were many tables with white covers.

"Right let's sign up for the battle tournament right now!" Billy cried in enthusiasm causing even more people to glare at us.

"But I want to explore the ship..." Paula said in sadness and I noticed Billy twitching in annoyance.

"Look why don't we just split up, do whatever we want to do then meet up again?"Luke intervened before Billy exploded.

"Fine." Billy said reluctantly.

"You don't need Paula to sign up anyway."Red said nudging Billy with a knowing smirk causing him to blink in confusion.

"I'll be back soon!" Paula said happily running off while Billy stared after her.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. I'm mean how much trouble can she really get into?" Luke said with a smile.

"I'm going to explore too." I said quickly "I don't want to stand in line for a contest I'm not even taking part in." I decided quickly walking after Paula before anyone protested.

**Bubbles POV**

"I feel like I'm in a spy movie!" Sparkette cried with excitement as we spied on the ship from behind a nearby tree.

"Shhh!" I and Sparky hissed. Sparkette and Sparky stood on the braches hiding in the leaves. There was no denying that the ship was impressive but that wasn't the main reason I was here.

"Do you think its true Bubbles?" Sparky asked me while running down the tree to my level "That there are others like you on board?" I didn't answer immediately and continued spying on the people around the ship.

"Ticket at three o'clock!" Sparkette cried with excitement. I jumped into the tree scanning the crowds of people. Then I saw it! A rather plump woman holding a ticket while heading towards the ship!

"Only one way to find out…" I muttered jumping down from the tree chasing the woman causing the two Pichus to jump after me. We quickly fell in step with the woman behind her suitcase we stayed close enough so that others who saw us would assume we were her Pokémon but far enough so that the woman herself wouldn't notice us.

"Why don't we just sneak on board ourselves?" Sparkette questioned looking around her spiky left ear twitching nervously. "I'm sure we could easily hide in through the cargo or climb up the anchor or something… this just seems too risky."

"They check the cargo." I said speaking quietly "Imagine if they saw us in a box or something they'd probably keep us because it's not often you see three strange looking Pokémon in the same place." I said. Sparky was a male Pichu which for some reason had the colouring of a Pikachu. I was a Buneary and the fluffy fur which was normally yellow was blue on my body. So on the tips of my ears were light blue fur and the fur around my stomach and on my feet was light blue. Even the meant-to-be yellow circles above my eyes were blue. Finally Sparkette was another Pichu but this time female who looked the most normal out of the three of us but her left ear had three giant spikes on it instead of a normal diamond shape. Even when we looked like we were owned by the woman the three of us were still getting strange and greed filled looks. "Plus, the anchor is about ten meters away and I can't jump that far with you two clinging onto me and none of us can swim." I explained. If I was in human form I could swim just fine but as a Buneary the fur got clogged with water and I just got weighed down.

"I still don't like this." Sparkette said pouting as we walked up the ramp.

"Relax." Sparky said "All we have to do if pretend to be this lady's Pokémon until we get on the ship and then just give her the slip inside." He said shrugging

"Ticket please." A man wearing a security badge said causing the woman to sigh a hand over her ticket. He looked at it for a minute or two before punching a few holes in it. "Very good Madam, make sure you keep hold of it." He said smiling handing the ticket back. The woman started heading on board but the man held out his hand. "Just a second Madam I'll need to weigh and measure your Pokémon." He said causing my blood to run cold.

"What Pokémon?" The woman questioned causing the guard to blink and the two of them stared at us.

"Awww… crap…" I said in panic "RUN!" I cried causing the three of us to dash onboard the ship.

"Hey wait!" I heard the guard cry "Stop those Pokémon!" he yelled causing several trainers to stop and stare at us. We dashed through trainers legs before they even had a chance to realise what had happened. I darted behind a plant pot with Sparky and Sparkette diving behind it as well. "There they are!" I heard the guard cry causing me to sigh and dart off again.

"Don't they ever give up?" I heard Sparky complain as he ran alongside me. I darted underneath a table covered by a white cloth.

"Got you!" The security guard cried tipping over the table blocking our escape.

"Ahhh!" The three of us cried in panic.

"You're not getting on this ship!" he cried releasing a Caterpie "Use Stringshot!" the Caterpie fired a tread of sticky goo straight towards us. I grabbed onto Sparky and Sparkette.

"Hang on!" I cried and I jumped as high as could and I landed on the security guard's head. The Caterpie fired another Stringshot just before I jumped away covering the security guard in the sticky goo. I landed on a nearby table sending all the plates flying before landing with a crash.

"That sounded expensive." Sparkette said wincing as another plate rolled off the table. The security guard peeled the goo off his face glaring at us with intense hatred causing me to swallow in fear.

"Come on!" I cried causing all three of us to dart off again. The security guard tried to grab us but we just jumped over his arms landing on yet another table. We leapt from table to table dodging the various Stringshot attacks and the security guard's attempts to grab us. Unfortunately, as we jumped from table to table we were knocking even more plates over onto the ground causing lots of crashes. But I think the security guard damaged a few plates himself trying to capture us, maybe even a table or two. We ran out of the room full of tables (and smashed plates) and darted between many people's legs trying to escape as the security guard shoved past the people causing many cries of protest. I noticed a room full of people and some instruments on a stage that were obviously going to be played shortly. "We can hide in the instruments!" I cried not really checking if Sparky and Sparkette were listening. I jumped onto the stage and squeezed past the strings to hide inside a giant violin (I think it's called a Cello but I'm not too sure) and waited. I noticed the security guard sprint past the stage looking very tired while scanning the crowd for us. He was gone within minutes causing me to sigh with relief. "Sparky? Sparkette?" I questioned crawling out of the giant violin. "Guys?" I questioned looking inside a Tuba and behind a Harp.

"Let's begin playing on the stage!" A voice said and I noticed what I assumed was the band coming towards me. I quickly jumped off the stage before anyone noticed me. I dived behind a plant pot (there were a lot of these on the ship) and began to panic. I was on a ship filled with people with no idea where I was and Sparky and Sparkette were gone.

"ATTENTION THE SHIP IS NOW LEAVING THE PORT." The speaker sounded throughout the ship and I felt movement underneath my feet. Well at least I knew they would be on board no matter what. I just had to find them.

**Paula's POV**

"What do you mean this room is closed?" I demanded angrily. I had walked around the giant ship aimlessly having absolutely no idea where I was for ages and now that I had found somewhere to actually go it was closed.

"Well, there were some rouge Pokémon on board the ship and they made a right mess of this room so it's closed until we can clean it up." The man explained patiently. "But the grand ball room's is just down that corridor so if you're looking for something to do I suggest you go check it out." He said pointing to the ballroom.

"Well… okay... thanks…" I said giving the man a smile before heading down the corridor. I gasped as I walked into a grand ball room as the musicians were playing The Last Waltz music made by Chopin. The room was huge with expensive chandlers and decorations on the ceiling and the walls. Many people were dancing wearing elegant clothes and lots of people were wearing masks. Suddenly I was bumped into by a girl about my age with strange silver hair and even stranger red eyes. She looked very pale and had dark circles around her eyes and was carrying a black fox like Pokémon I had never seen before. Both the girl and her Pokémon were wearing matching black chokers around their necks.

"Aurora!" a man called and the girl flinched. The man had dark blue wavy hair and was wearing a black mask with a tuxedo to match. He smiled seeing the girl I was with and placed a hand on her shoulder causing the fox in her arms to growl softly. "Aurora there you are." The man said with a casual smile. "Anyone would think you're trying to slip away from me with the number of times I've lost you in the crowd." He said his smile never leaving his face. Then the man bent down and whispered something I couldn't hear into Aurora's ear causing her to grow even paler. He then looked at me and smiled "Thank you young lady if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have found my dear Aurora." He said and it looked like his grip tightened on her shoulder. It didn't look like he was relieved but it was hard to tell with him wearing a mask. "I am Baron Edward Belmont and this is my niece Aurora." He said.

"Nice to meet you both I'm Paula Haring," I said offering my hand towards them. Edward took my hand and smiled and the girl's eyes widened.

"Charmed." He said raising my hand towards his lips causing heat to rush to my face. The baron dropped my hand and smiled and Aurora looked relieved. "Well as pleasant as this meeting has been Aurora and I have some business to attend to. Good day." Edward said with small bow escorting Aurora away with a smile and his hand still on her shoulder. Aurora looked back at me and I saw a flash of sadness in her eyes then she turned away and it was gone. The two of them disappeared into the crowd.

"There you are." A familiar voice said and I turned to see Liz causing me to smile.

"I thought you would have been with the others." I said

"And stand in line for potentially hours?" Liz questioned "Sounds like a right barrel of laughs. But I think I'd rather explore the ship." She said sarcastically "Who were those people?" she questioned causing me to shrug.

"The man was Baron something or other and the girl was Aurora. Why?" I questioned

"Hmmm… it's nothing really just the black fox thing was saying something strange." Liz said shrugging

"Why? What did it say?" I questioned

"Well look who it is!" a familiar voice cried interrupting us.

"Not you." I whined seeing the red headed douche bag Gary.

"Well obviously I would be here!" Gary cried in victory "I mentioned it back in the contest that I would be here but I didn't expect you guys to show up!"

"I thought these tickets were meant to be expensive not to mention ultra rare." Liz muttered in annoyance

"For normal people yes they are." Gary said smugly "But for the son of the president of the Umbra Company which also happened to build this ship it was no problem!" he stated looking extremely proud.

"Are we supposed to be impressed?" Liz asked with raised eyebrows causing Gary to grow flustered.

"My father Samael can easily get you kicked of the ship if I asked him!" Gary defended

"Running to daddy are we?" Liz asked smirking causing me to elbow her and Gary to gape.

"I don't know about you but I don't fancy swimming back!" I protested causing Liz to frown.

"Whatever, remarks from someone like you are like water off a Ducklett's back." Gary said smugly "They don't matter at all."

"Someone like me?" Liz questioned with raised eyebrows.

"Come let's go he won't say anything nice." I said pulling on Liz's arm but she stood firm.

"Poor, dirty..." Gary said listing off his fingers "and no Pokémon. Basically you're no one important." He said smugly.

"Is that all you had to say?" Liz said sounding unimpressed "Lots of people don't have any Pokémon. I didn't exactly choose to be poor and obviously my clothes are dirty I've been sleeping outside!" she said causing me to grin.

"Say what you want the people with Pokémon are the people with power." Gary said smugly

"Gary Levilus!" An unfamiliar voice shouted and Gary flinched as a tall middle aged man with combed back red hair wearing a white suit came over to us and grabbed Gary's shoulder. "What have I told you about being rude to others?" the man demanded with fierce looking eyes

"I can't recall." Gary muttered almost cheekily in a very quiet voice.

"Well you should!" The man shouted

"But dad these people aren't worth our politeness!" Gary argued causing the man to frown fiercely

"Come on let's go." Liz muttered "The last thing we need is to get caught up in some family tiff." She said as the two of us crept quietly out of the ball room where Gary was turning slowly more flustered.

**Billy's POV**

"Finally!" I cried in delight as we finished signing up for the tournament.

"I thought we'd never sign up with all that waiting!" Red said stretching his arms. There was a moment of silence where no one said anything.

"So… now what do we do?" Kane asked awkwardly.

"Umm…" the four of us said in unison.

"I think I'm going to go outside the ship." Luke said eventually "To take some pictures of the water Pokémon because it's been ages since I last had the chance to take the picture of some wild Pokémon." He explained smiling as Shadow yipped in agreement.

"I think I'll come with you…" Red said trailing off "This boat's making me feel sick and the fresh air might do me good." He said "What about you two?"

"Is there anything interesting we can do on this ship?" I asked feeling irritable already. If the ship didn't have anything to do I might just die of boredom before we got back to Vermillion…

"Well let's see…" Kane said looking at a nearby leaflet. "They have a swimming pool… a Pokémon grooming salon… oh! I know! Look!" he cried shoving the leaflet in my face causing me to scowl and swat it away. "Billy! They have fishing outside! We can go with Luke and Red and fish for Pokémon to pass the time! We used to go fishing together all the time! Remember?" he said happily causing me to frown.

"Yes… I remember…" I almost hissed at Kane feeling the anger bubbling up in me.

"Then that's settled." Red said oblivious to my very angry mood. We headed towards the outside deck of the ship while I trailed reluctantly behind the group. Eventually (after getting lost more than once) we were hit with the cool refreshing sea air and all we could see was expanse of blue.

"Wow…" Luke said eagerly running to the edge of the ship getting out his camera. Red leaned against the ship's railing not looking too well while Kane and I picked up a fishing rod and threw the line with some bait over the side of the ship.

"….." the four of us were oddly silent as we stood in the sea breeze.

"A Remoraid!" Luke cried in amazement eventually snapping some pictures.

"Really? Where? I don't see anything…" Red said scanning the sea while squinting "You must have good eyesight…" he said coughing a bit.

"You okay Red? You don't look too well..." Kane pointed out

"I'll be fine…" Red muttered while Luke looked at him

"Crap your eyes are bright red! Well redder than normal anyway…" Luke cried in panic

"Don't worry its normal…" Red muttered sounding angry while coughing again "Damn sick body…" he said getting out a needle from his backpack.

"What are you doing with that?" I questioned panicked as Red jabbed himself with the needle causing his face to screw up in pain. "Red!"

"It will stop in a minute…" Red chocked in pain while the three of us stared at him in worry. I noticed his eyes fading back to normal and I sighed with relief.

"What was that?" I questioned with worry and anger.

"I've got this strange medical condition… the doctors couldn't classify it or completely cure it… they only managed to create a vaccine which reduced the side effects. I've had this disease as long as I can remember…." Red said sounding sad "If I don't take the medicine I become really weak and I could die. It's cause of the disease and vaccinations that I have red eyes…"

"Seriously?" we all questioned causing Red to nod solemnly.

"Must be horrible…" Luke said looking depressed.

"I don't want you guys to pity me!" Red snapped causing us all too flinched causing Red's eyes to widen in surprise. "Sorry. You guys are my first friends… and I don't want you looking down on me just because I get sick sometimes… I've always wanted to travel the world and I've never been able to because of my sickness…" Red said clenching his fist causing me to grin.

"Don't expect any mercy in the battle tournament!" I cried in determination causing Kane and Luke to nod and Red to grin.

"Billy!" Kane cried suddenly "You've got a bit!" he cried and I ran back to my fishing rod and started reeling in the Pokémon.

"It's strong!" I cried as I attempted to pull up the struggling Pokémon. Suddenly I managed to pull it out of the water revealing a small purple Shellder who attempted to bounce away but winded up getting more tangled in the line.

"That's what caused you so much trouble?" Luke questioned doubtfully sniggering.

"Hey this thing put up a fight!" I cried in protest causing everyone to burst out laughing.

"DER SHELLDER!" The Shellder cried angrily getting more tangled in the fishing line.

"Here I'll help." Luke said untangling the caught Pokémon who quickly clamped down on his hand "Argh!" Luke cried in pain "Get it off! Get it off!" he cried waving his arm about madly causing Shadow to burst out laughing.

"Go Nicolas!" I cried releasing my Nidorino who cried out in determination. "Horn attack!" Nicolas charged towards Luke and Shellder and jumped up and accidentally slammed into Luke's stomach causing him to groan in pain and Red and Kane to start laughing.

"You attacked me!" Luke cried in annoyance.

"Sorry!" I cried sheepishly "Maybe attacking with a Pokémon is a bad idea… I know!" I cried in realisation "I'll catch it! Go Poké ball!" I cried throwing a Poké ball. Luckily it hit the Shellder and not Luke (if Luke went inside the Poké ball that would take a lot of explaining but I'm not too sure if he could be caught anyway as a human). The Poké ball hit the ship's deck causing Luke to sigh with relief as the ball shook once then again and…. It burst open! The now very anger Shellder bounced in irritation and fired several small spear like icicles towards us. "Nicolas use Horn attack!" I yelled again causing Nicolas to knock the icicles away with a powerful Horn attack. "Now use Double kick!" I cried causing Nicolas to slam the Shellder with a powerful Double kick but the Pokémon just hide in its shell reducing the damage. Shellder open its shell slightly and fired a powerful ice beam freezing Nicolas's legs. "Poison Sting!" I cried causing Nicolas to fire a series of poison needles towards the Shellder who closed its shell again causing most of them to bounce off. "Wait!" I cried as Nicolas stopped his attack. I stared at the Shellder in anticipation knowing it would have to open its shell again to attack. Its shell cracked open a tiny bit and I wasted no more time "Fire now!" I cried causing Nicolas to fire another batch of Poisonous needles towards the Shellder who couldn't close its shell in time resulting in getting hit on its soft body. "Now let's try this again! Go Poké ball!" I cried throwing the Poké ball towards the purple Pokémon. The Poké ball shook violently almost rolling off the ship's deck before I grabbed it and it made a click sound in my hands. "Yes! I caught it!" I cried happily jumping around.

"Congratulations." Kane said patting me on the back causing me to jump. I had forgotten they were standing there…

"That Pokémon really did pack a punch…" Luke muttered rubbing his sore hand "Oh by the way thanks for your help there Shadow." Luke said sarcastically causing Shadow to grin.

"Umbreon." He said sounding cheeky.

"Do not." Luke resorted causing me, Kane and Red to blink in confusion.

"Did you really have to catch it?" Red muttered sounding a bit annoyed "All that Shellder did was get caught in your fishing line you could have thrown it back in the sea."

"Now that you mention it I wasn't planning to catch it…" I admitted sheepishly "One thing just led to another… and I just caught it automatically…" I said looking at the Poké ball in my hands. I smiled and attached it to my belt so now I had three Pokémon ether side. A full team of six I thought proudly grinning.

"Wow you have six Pokémon already." Kane said in amazement "I only have four." He said causing Red to frown deeply.

"I really hate it when trainers catch Pokémon needlessly." He said his teeth gritted but then he sighed to calm himself down "But I'll let this one slide but if I see you with any more Pokémon you're getting the lecture from hell!" Red promised causing me to cringe.

"It's hard to say that I defiantly won't catch more…" I said in a small voice.

"Aren't you going to give it a name?" Kane questioned causing me to look at him in confusion "All of your other Pokémon have names." He pointed out.

"I'll think of one later." I said resolving to get Luke on his own or find Liz to uncover my new Pokémon's name. I returned Nicolas back to his Poké ball before anyone told us off and grinned to myself. Now that I had a full team they would be no stopping me!

**Sparky's POV**

"WAIT!" The guard cried for the millionth time while chasing us through the ship.

"If anything this guy is persistent!" I cried in annoyance running as the security guard chased us.

"I-know." Sparkette gasped besides me obviously tired.

"You need to work out more." I said cheekily causing Sparkette to glare at me but didn't say anything (probably because she was too tired).

"Stringshot!" The guard cried sounding very frustrated as his Caterpie fired another gooey thread at us.

"I'll take care of this!" I called confidently firing a Charge beam towards the thread causing it to break apart and hit the Caterpie knocking it out. "Wow that Caterpie was surprisingly weak I can't believe I didn't try that before." I said in surprise while the security guard withdrew his Pokémon.

"Bubbles-doesn't-want-us-to-hurt-anyone." Sparkette gasped while bending over trying to get her breath back.

"I know but that Caterpie will be fine." I said waving my hand in dismissal "And that guard obviously doesn't have any more Pokémon because he's gaping at us like a Magikarp. This is the perfect time to escape!"

"More-running?" Sparkette questioned in distress. Suddenly a big plastic container got slammed over us before we had time to react.

"Hey what's the big idea?" I cried running up to the container and attempting to lift it but it was too heavy.

"Here you go Mister you looked like you could use some help there." A young male voice said and we turned to see a young boy about Bubbles' age smiling at the guard with a Vulpix on his shoulder.

"Thanks for your help there kid." The guard said smiling at our capturer "I might have been chasing these little trouble makers all day otherwise." He said looking at us "Huh… I could've sworn there were three Pokémon before…" he said causing me and Sparkette to share worried looks.

"I think the Pokémon would have stayed together like these two did." The boy said looking at us.

"Hmm... perhaps you're right..." The guard admitted

"We're innocent I tells ya!" Sparkette yelled regaining her energy. "All we did was sneak on board a ship was that so bad?"

"Sparkette…" I said sounding annoyed

"Okay so maybe we smashed a few priceless plates while we were here as well!" She yelled ignoring me

"Sparkette." I repeated getting increasingly annoyed

"And so what if we annoyed several trainers by running around and tripping a few of them up! And maybe I accidentally electrocuted some out of fear! Do you really have to imprison us in a plastic box? Just for virtually nothing! I demand a lawyer!" She cried

"Sparkette!" I snapped causing her to look at me "Did you really have to list all of our crimes?" I asked her sighing with frustration causing her to laugh sheepishly. "You're just lucky they can't understand us." I muttered.

"You might want to get someone to clear up those plates." The boy said suddenly

"What?" Me, Sparkette and the guard questioned in unison.

"Well I heard one of the rooms were closed cause of smashed plates." The boy answered casually. "Also some trainers might have got hurt cause of these little rascals." He said looking at us.

"Don't worry about the room people are already restoring it." The guard explained "and I'll radio the paramedics to look for any people who may have been hurt." He said picking the box with us in it. "Thanks for your help kid." He said smiling.

"No problem." The boy said leaving with his Vulpix running after him.

"He scared me for a minute." Sparkette admitted placing a hand on her heart. "I thought he could actually hear us." She said grinning

"Yer…" I agreed absentmindedly trying to catch another looking at the boy but he was already gone. We were carried away from the room, through many corridors and down many stairs until we reached a room full of boxes, probably a cargo hold. The security guard placed us on a box and we looked at him in worry.

"Don't worry I won't throw you over board or try and catch you I've had enough of you that already. I'll just set you free when we get back to port but I don't want you running around this ship anymore so I'll just keep you here until we return." He said placing us in an even bigger plastic box. "There's food and water in there if you get hungry and toys if you get bored." The guard said before leaving the room.

"He wasn't so bad just trying to do his job." Sparkette said smiling tucking into the food.

"Can you be serious for once? We've got to work out how to escape!" I said in annoyance.

"You can't think when you're hungry. Chill out Sparky." She said smiling at me offering some of the food which I reluctantly took nibbling it which surprisingly made me feel better.

"Thanks." I muttered

"Stupid girl!" An unknown voice cried shoving a girl with strange silver hair into the room causing her to crash into the boxes.

"You okay?" Sparkette questioned running up to the edge of the box trying to get a better look at the girl. The girl almost like she understood Sparkette nodded quickly and stood up and I noticed she had a Zoura in her arms and that both of them were wearing black chokers around their necks.

"I refuse to do this! I'm not hurting these innocent people!" The girl defiantly cried as an unknown man walked into the room looking positively furious. The man had dark blue wavy hair and was wearing a black mask with a tuxedo to match.

"Need I remind you that you have no choice." He said in annoyance "That is if you don't your little brother to join your mummy and daddy in hell."

"Don't worry about me Aurora!" The Zoura in the girl's arms cried confusing me "I don't want this guy hurting the people on the ship as well!"

"The plan will go ahead with or without you little pests. It's just slightly easier with you and you survive at the end of it all everybody wins." The man said shrugging

"I won't do this!" Aurora cried

"Then I'll have to punish you." The man said "Sorry about this but you left me no choice." The man sounded emotionless despite his apology and pulled out a little black box from his tuxedo causing Aurora's and the Zoura's eyes to widen in fear. "I've been lenient about the trying to escape, the countless attempts to injure me and the attempts to remove your collars. But I guess I'll have to remind you who's really in charge." He said pressing a button on the box causing both the girl and the Pokémon to cry out in pain as electricity flowed through their bodies.

"This is horrible…" I said as my eyes widened I felt speechless.

"Coward!" Sparkette cried angrily slamming against the box. "Let me out so I can see if you like being electrocuted!" she cried her cheeks sparking.

"Oh it seems we have guests." The man said noticing us stopping the electrocution causing the girl and the Pokémon to collapse to the floor. "Two strange looking Pichus… a rare find…" He murmured looking at us as if we were slabs of meat.

"You stay away from us you monster!" I cried shoving Sparkette behind me.

"Well… I suppose we can make you our slaves but Pichus aren't normally that powerful... I know! We can sell you on the black market! The money we gain is sure to aid our plans." The man said grinning at us.

"There you are!" A familiar voice cried

"Bubbles!" Sparkette and I cried in union and relief seeing Bubbles jump out of the ventilation in the ceiling kicking the bad man to the ground as she landed.

"Have ever told you that you have wonderful timing?" I questioned with relief as she looked at us.

"How on earth do you get into these situations?" She asked while kicking the box until it fell over releasing us.

"Freedom!" Sparkette cried with relief hugging Bubbles.

"I'm happy to see you too Sparkette." Bubbles said returning the hug.

"We have to help that girl and her Zoura!" I cried "That bad man was electrocuting them!"

"You'll pay for that annoying Pokémon!" The man said standing up angrily.

"What's going on in here?" Another new voice cried from the doorway revealing the security guard.

"I'd never thought I'd be so happy to see him here!" I cried happily while the bad man's face softened.

"I heard some crashing so I thought I'd investigate… and here I find the Pokémon I captured free, a girl and a Pokémon unconscious and some unfamiliar guy trespassing in the cargo hold!" The guard cried in a confused/angry tone.

"Oh officer thank Arceus you're here!" The bad man cried in a panicked tone grabbing the security guard by the arms. "My dear Aurora ran off and I told her not to explore here but it was too late! She released these Pokémon thinking they were cute who then took advantage off her kindness by electrocuting her and her Pokémon to near paralysation! I got here just after they electrocuted her!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE YOU LIAR!" Bubbles, Sparkette and I cried in unison.

"These Pokémon didn't seem very violent when I captured them…" The security guard said sounding sceptical.

"The girl's clearly been electrocuted!" The bad man cried still faking a panicked tone

"Well…" The guard said frowning deeply "Hey wait a minute!" He cried in realisation causing everyone to hold their breath "I only captured two Pokémon! I was right there were three of them!"

"Exactly." The man hissed "These Pokémon have been deceiving you from the start."

"No it was the bad man he attacked them!" Sparkette yelled fruitlessly

"You better take the girl and get away from these Pokémon Sir." The guard said darkly as the bad man picked up the girl and her Pokémon and smiled smugly at us before leaving. "I can't believe I was so lenient on you before." The guard said shaking his head "This time I capture all three of you and throw you over board myself!" he said picking a Great ball off his belt "This one I normally only reserve for emergencies I think it's only fair I use it here." he said maximising the Great ball to its biggest size.

"Bubbles…" I muttered as the three of us grouped together.

"Go Arcanine!" He cried releasing the huge fire type Pokémon.

"What do we do?" Sparkette said clutching both of us as Bubbles stared at the huge Pokémon.

"Use Bite!" The guard cried causing the huge Pokémon to lunge towards us teeth bared.

"The only thing we can do…" Bubble muttered quietly so I barely heard her as she leapt backwards landing on a box of cargo as she clung onto us.

"Flamethrower!" The guard cried as his Pokémon unleashed a huge stream of fire towards as Bubbles leapt back into the ventilation system she had came out of. Some of the metal melted behind us as the attack hit it conveniently sealing where we had jumped.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" Sparkette complained as we ran down the metal tube avoiding the warmth causing by the attack.

"My Arcanine has your scent no matter where you go we'll be able to find you!" The guard called after us.

"Bubbles… we have to help that girl... I know we don't know her but no one should suffer like that." Sparkette pleaded

"OF course we'll help her!" Bubbles proclaimed "But right now it might be best to go back to our original plan of finding the others like me! They'll be able to understand and help us maybe even get the security guard to understand that we're the victims and not the criminals!" she cried and Sparkette and I nodded in determination.

**Luke's POV**

"Look there they are!" I cried spotting Liz and Paula. After the Shellder incident we had resolved not to go near the sea again and instead voted for joining up again with Liz and Paula and finally we had found them.

"Where were you guys?" Paula demanded "we've been looking everywhere!"

"We could ask the same thing of you two!" Billy retaliated.

"Please stop I've only just recovered from my last headache." Red pleaded covering his ears

"We've found each now and that's all that matters." Shadow added shrugging

"We've got to go now anyway the battle tournament will start soon and all competitors have to be there before the public are allowed to enter!" Kane cried sounding a lot like Billy.

"Let's go then." Billy and Paula in unison and we started heading towards the battle stage. Surprising the battle stage wasn't very far away so we didn't have to do much walking until we reached a big battlefield with a small wooden stage in front of us. A big crowd of people were gathered around the stage so we stood at the back looking at the wooden stage. A man wearing a white suit walked onto the stage causing the crowd to cheer but I didn't recognise him.

"Hello there!" The man said smiling "I am Samael Levilus and I the head of the Umbra Company which also built this magnificent ship." Samael said smiling and there was polite clapping throughout the crowd though I suspect that like me not many people had heard of this man. "I trust that you are all are having a good time and will have a safe and pleasant tour while travelling with us on the _SS Anne II's_ maiden voyage. Now I would like to welcome our special guest onto the stage top model Lucy Pennington!" he cried walking off the stage as a girl with long black hair and piercing icy blue eyes wearing white high heels, with black tights a short white shirt and a blue tank top with ribbons on.

"What?" Paula demanded in a high squeaky voice

"What is it?" I questioned in surprise

"She was my rival in my first contest…" Paula said in surprise "I can't believe she's here now… but it makes sense after all she's rich enough to afford a ticket…"Paula said growing paler. I knew her first contest loss had affected her badly…

"Thank you Samael." Lucy said not sounding bothered that she was on a stage in front of hundreds of people. "It is a true honour to be a guest at this prestigious event especially seeing as I am competing." Lucy said causing the crowd to murmur in amazement.

"Lucy's competing?" Paula repeated clenching her fist

"I look forward to what will be an exciting tournament." Lucy said not sounding very excited but it still got the crowd cheering. "That is all." She said walking away causing most people to blink in confusion. She hadn't exactly said much…

"Erm... thanks Lucy for that… riveting speech." Samael said obviously not trying to say that it was short. "If anyone wants to sign up to the tournament there is still half an hour left and I remind competitors that if they must show all Pokémon to the tournament evaluators before competing." Samael said bowing to the crowd "thanks for your attention and good luck to all."

"I'm signing up to this tournament as well!" Paula proclaimed "I want to battle Lucy!"

"Great more rivals…" Red muttered

"I think it's great I haven't had the chance to battle you since we first met!" Billy cried excited "You beat me then but I'd like to see how much stronger I now am!"

"I've been training too since then!" Paula cried in determination "I'm going to sin up now!" She said smiling before running off.

"Billy." I muttered tapping him on the shoulder

"Hmm what is it?" he questioned

"I think you should go with her so you can sign up your new Shellder plus you can bring Liz and she can turn into a Pichu then you can use all your Pokémon." I whispered quietly so that Red and Kane couldn't overhear us

"That's a brilliant idea!" Billy cried loudly causing Red and Kane to look at us.

"Erm... I just remembered that I have to sign up my new Pokémon!" Billy cried.

"You have a new Pokémon?" Liz question and then she groaned loudly "Why do I get the feeling it will be another annoying quirky Pokémon?"

"Well you don't know that yet!" Billy protested "Anyway Liz you look really tired maybe you should go to sleep during this tournament after all it's not like you're competing!" Billy cried his eyes pleading with Liz for her to understand.

"now that you mention it I am really tired." Liz said understanding while faking a yawn. "I'll see you guys after the tournament." She said waving while walking off.

"I'm going to sign up Shellder now!" Billy added chasing after her

"Liz is going to miss the whole battle tournament just because she's sleepily?" Kane questioned sounding astonished "I wouldn't miss it even if I was on my death bed!"

"I'm sure she'll be with us in spirit." I said smiling as I looked at the stage. This would be something to remember.

_**Next chapter will be mainly battles which might be broken into two chapters depending on its length...Gary and Lucy are revealed to take part in the tournament and I decided as a last minute addition to enter Paula as well so I've got a lot on my plate planned for the next chapter. So the known characters competing are Billy, Kane, Luke, Red, Lucy, Gary and Paula**_ _**expect a fight to the death!... well not to the death but you know what I mean. I included the thing about Shadow being weighed and measured to give the chapter a realistic feel. It seems stupid that everybody on the ship would be allowed their Pokémon out there just wouldn't be enough room. Then I ruined the realistic feel by giving the ship a massive dining room, ball room and battle area. I'm not an expert but I think the size of these things would have to be sacrificed... I'm on holiday in a few days time for a week so the next update will take a while**_


	36. Tournament rocks the deck!

Disclaimer- ahhh! Help! (gets chased by swam of midges) stupid midges! (gets bitten one million and one times) ouch! (runs off while the midges form the words sisno2200 does not own Pokémon before giving chase)

Tournament rocks the deck!

**Liz's POV**

"Lizzy hurry it up would you the others will be here soon!" Billy demanded

"I'm trying this Shellder is hard to understand!" I yelled back rather pointlessly seeing as I had turned into a Pichu and he couldn't understand me. "What's your name?" I asked the newest member of Billy's team for the tenth time.

"Eye tolf u! Mai nam ish Lawla!" Shellder replied struggling to speak probably because of her giant tongue.

"Lawla?" I repeated confused

"No noa Lawla! Law-ra!" Shellder said loudly

"That sounds like more or less the same thing…."I said in despair causing the Shellder to bounce angrily. "Hang on… do you mean Laura?" I guessed

"Yesh!" the Shellder, or Laura, yelled happily.

"Oh finally!" I yelled happily writing the name Laura on a piece of paper.

"So her name is Laura?" Billy questioned causing me to nod. "I can't see how it would take that long to figure it out…." He said trailing off as I glared at him "Well welcome to the team Laura. I'm Billy the Pichu is Liz and that Nidorino that caught you was Nicolas. I'll introduce you to the rest of the team later." Billy said smiling

"U don eem too baf." Laura said looking at Billy and me. "Ohey al giv u a chanf."

"I have no idea what you just said but it sounded good." I said giving Billy a thumbs up making him grin.

"There you are!" a familiar voice cried and the three of us turned (well I spun Laura around as turning for her would probably take years) to see Luke, Shadow, Red, Kane and Paula all heading in a big group towards us. "We've been looking for you." Luke said grinning.

"Sorry I was just getting acquainted with my new Pokémon." Billy said lifting up Laura into his arms.

"You caught a Shellder Billy?" Paula questioned sounding astonished looking at the Pokémon. "It's kind of cute in a weird way…"

"Eye don no whefer toh beh insufited oar noft…" Laura said doubtfully looking at Paula.

"Don't take it personally." Shadow said shrugging

"Yep." Billy said happily obvious about the Pokémon's conversation "Her name's Laura."

"So you've finally given her a nickname? Don't see why it took so long." Kane said grinning.

"Nice to meet you Laura." Paula said reaching her hand towards the Pokémon

"Ah I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Luke and Billy cried in unison but it was too late as Laura clamped down on Paula's hand.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" Paula cried unhappily with tears forming in her eyes. "Help! Get it off!" She cried waving her arm about.

"Return Laura!" Billy cried returning Laura back to her Poké ball causing Paula to sigh with relief. "Apparently she doesn't like hands getting close to her body a lesson Luke and I not too long ago learnt." Billy said showing Paula his red hand.

"There you are little trouble maker!" A voice cried and next thing I knew I was pinned down by an Arcanine

"Ouch what's going on?!" I questioned attempting to lift the big Pokémon off me but to no joy.

"What do you think you're doing to Liz?!" Billy demanded and I noticed that the one controlling the Arcanine was the security guard we had seen when we were first boarding the ship.

"Liz?" Red and Kane questioned in confusion.

"So you're the mastermind behind the destruction huh?" the security guard questioned

"Destruction? I haven't destroyed anything…" Billy said trailing off

"Don't play innocent!" The guard yelled "You may not have but you defiantly ordered your Pichu to!"

"I don't remember breaking anything on the ship either..." I pointed out even though no one could understand me but Luke.

"I don't understand… Billy's been with us all day and he's only just released that Pichu…" Red pointed out

"You've even deceived your friends!" The guard yelled not listening to Red. "You ordered that Pichu to sneak on board the ship and injure the passengers!"

"Why would Liz need to sneak on board when I already have a ticket?!" Billy questioned pulling the ticket out off his bag "See? You even let us in yourself!" he said pressing the ticket into the guard's hands. The guard looked at it with a frown checking it over several times.

"I don't understand I defiantly saw a Pichu in that cargo hold and Arcanine's nose led me here..." the guard said in confusion looking at me. "Now that I have a closer look at you those two Pichus looked different from this Pichu!" The guard cried in realisation.

"Um… what are you talking about?" Paula questioned.

"Arcanine let that Pokémon go it's the wrong Pichu!" The security guard ordered

"If you cause any trouble on board this ship I'll be attacking you faster than you can say 'thunderbolt'" The Arcanine growled before releasing me.

"Sorry you guys it was a case of mistaken identity." The guard said regretfully "But if you see two strange looking Pichus, one shiny and one normal looking but with a spiky ear and a strange shiny Buneary let me know! They should be around here somewhere and they're very dangerous!" the guard warned before handing Billy back his ticket and walking away causing an awkward silence.

"Well that was weird..." Kane said breaking the silence.

"I wonder what's so dangerous about those Pokémon?" Luke pondered frowning.

"I don't want find out." Paula said shuddering

"I can't believe Pokémon would be dangerous without a reason!" Red proclaimed "There must be some kind of reason! "

"Unfortunately not all Pokémon are friendly." Billy said frowning playing with Kyra's Poké ball.

"I know! But I don't know something feels off somehow…" Red said frowning.

"I'd hate to see what he'd do to the real culprits. I mean how many strange looking Pichus can there be?" I said standing up dusting myself of.

"Ah! Are you okay Liz?" Billy questioned quickly causing me to nod.

"Your Pichu is named Liz?" Kane questioned "Isn't that the same name as the girl travelling with you?"

"Erm… yer I named her before I met human Liz… it's just one of those strange coincidences…" Billy lied badly

"Know that you mention it… I remember you having that Pichu in Mt. Moon!" Kane cried in realisation somehow buying the lie causing Billy and me to sigh with relief.

"It's a shame human Liz is going to miss out on the tournament." Red said narrowing his eyes at me. It didn't seem like he was very convinced by the lie…but what were the chances of him guessing the truth?

**Bubbles' POV**

"Hey look at this it's another strange looking Pichu!" Sparkette cried with excitement pointing through the ventilation grate

"Wow you're right." Sparky said in amazement looking over Sparkette's shoulder. "I wonder how many strange looking Pichus there are in the world... and to think three of them are on board this ship!"

"Never mind that Pichu unless it can turn into a human we're not interested!" I reminded them pulling them away from the ventilation grate.

"Awww…" They cried in unison.

"Bubbles?" Sparky questioned "How will we know if they are any people like you here?" he asked causing me to blink.

"Erm….." I pondered "I don't know… I thought I'd get some kind of feeling… I guess…"

"And are you feeling anything?!" Sparkette questioned eagerly. I closed my eyes and concentrated for any indication of a direction to go.

"Nothing..." I said and all of us sighed with disappointment.

"Well if you can't feel anything and there are others on board…. I guess that means you can't sense others like you…" Sparky deduced.

"I know! I know!" Sparkette cried eagerly "We're in a ventilation system right?! Any noise we make will be carried throughout the ship and only people who can understand Pokémon will be able to hear us and act on our message!"

"You're a genius…" Sparky said in amazement

"I know." Sparkette said smugly.

"But… what if the bad guy hears it?" I questioned worried "We don't know if he'll be able to understand us…"

"Come Bubbles chillax what are the chances of him being able understand us?" Sparkette questioned

"Stranger things have happened." I said stubbornly folding my arms

"Well then we'll cross that bridge if/when we come to it." Sparkette said waving casually.

"…fine…" I muttered bitterly causing the two Pichus to cheer.

**Eric's POV**

"Are you ready Aiden?" I questioned the Vulpix on my shoulders

"Don't worry Eric we'll thrash these tournament guys and go straight back to searching the ship." Aiden said grinning arrogantly "That is if you don't get distracted by any more Pichus."

"Hey I was just trying to help that security guard out!" I protested causing Aiden to roll his eyes.

"HELLO CAN ANYONE HEAR US?!" some strange voices echoed throughout the ship.

"What on earth is that?" Aiden questioned looking around for the source of the noise.

"I don't know…" I replied looking around the ship as well.

"Can you hear some Pokémon?" I heard a passenger questioning another

"It sounds like they might have got suck in the ventilation system." The person replied before the two of them walked off.

"WE'RE LOOKING FOR ANY PEOPLE WHO CAN TURN INTO POKÉMON!"

"What?!" I questioned loudly in surprise causing several people to look at me.

"Well that's surprising." Aiden said blinking "but whoever these guys are they have bad timing!" He said scolding "We have to join the tournament in a few minutes!"

"Shush!" I hissed listening out for the Pokémon again.

"WE NEED YOUR HELP!" The voices cried

"I FOUND YOU!" A different loud voice echoed throughout the ship.

"AHHH! NOT AGAIN! RUN AWAY! SOMEONE HURRY IT UP AND HELP US!" They cried before the echoes stopped.

"Aiden…" I murmured to the Vulpix on my shoulder.

"Don't worry I'm on it." Aiden said and I put him in the air vents. "You better hope that you don't get into a 6v6 battle or you're screwed." He said

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it." I said stubbornly

"Your choice." Aiden said before going through the vents searching for the voices.

**Luke's POV**

"AHHH! NOT AGAIN! RUN AWAY! SOMEONE HURRY IT UP AND HELP US!" The strange voices cried and Liz and I looked at each other.

"What do you think?" Shadow said looking at us.

"I don't know what to do…" I admitted quietly.

"What are you talking about?" Kane asked grinning

"There are so many people around its hard to have a conversation!" Liz complained while I pretended I couldn't understand her.

"Nothing." I said quickly causing Kane to blink at me.

"ATTENTION THE TOURNAMENT WILL NOW BEGIN PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE STAGE." The speakers sounded throughout the ship

"Well it's too late to do anything now..." Liz said climbing into Billy's hood. We headed out onto the stage and stood in a small crowd.

"After all that hype there's only about 15 people actually competing." Red said looking around.

"Hello and welcome to the SS Anne 2 battle tournament!" the announcer cried causing the crowd to cheer loudly. "The person who wins will receive a bike voucher and some free passes to the Safari zone!"

"With a bike voucher you can get a free bicycle from either Cerulean city or the Cycling road near Celadon or Fuchsia. Plus the Safari zone is an area where you can catch the rarest Pokémon!" Paula said with excitement.

"I wouldn't mind a free bike." Red said smiling "But I don't really need a Safari Zone pass…"

"Unfortunately seeing as we on a boat there is some restriction on the moves and the height/weight of Pokémon allowed." The announcer admitted causing the crowd to groan."Here is the list of moves that are not allowed." The announcer said and a list of moves appeared on the screen. Some were familiar like Earthquake, Dig and Surf but I had never heard of some like Frenzy Plant. I heard a few disappointed groans from trainers in the crowd. "If these moves are performed the trainer will be disqualified and it's likely that the ship will go down. So it's in everybody's interest that these moves aren't performed. Also Pokémon exceeding 5 Meters***** are not allowed to be released otherwise the roof might collapse. Also Pokémon exceeding 50 kg cannot be released due to weight issues. Diglett and Dugtrio are also not allowed to be released. All details of which Pokémon or moves can and can't be used are kept on display at all times so you have no excuse for breaking the rules. Now that that's out of the way let the tournament begin!" The announcer cried causing the crowd to cheer. "Let's randomly shuffle all the trainers present!" she cried and all of our pictures appeared on the screen behind her before being turned around and mixed around the screen. "Alright our first battle is… Billy Derringer Vs Kane Humphries!"

"Alright!" Billy cried happily before pointing at Kane "You're going down!"

"That is if I don't defeat you first!" Kane argued back.

"Our second battle is…" The announcer cried regaining our attention "Luke Carlson Vs Katie!" She cried revealing my face and the face of a girl about my age

"That's our opponent?" Shadow questioned looking at the screen grinning "I can't wait!"

"The third battle! Paula Haring Vs Denise!" the announcer cried showing Paula picture next to a picture of a black haired boy in a red and white stripped sweater.

"This is so exciting!" Paula cried clenching her fist

"Fourth Battle! Chloe VS Zach!" The announcer cried showing two unknown people's pictures. "Fifth battle! Lucy Pennington VS Gary Levilus!" the pictures showed Paula's contest rival against Billy's and Red's rival Gary.

"I hope they take each other out." Paula muttered folding her arms

"Red Vs Gerald!" The announcer cried showing Red's picture and some random person's picture.

"So that's my opponent... You better not lose Gary because if we both win I'll get to battle you… and this time I won't lose!" Red proclaimed his fist clenched

"Aurora Vs Justin!" The announcer cried showing a picture a silver haired girl with red eyes and her opponent a plain brown haired boy.

"She has red eyes like you…" Kane said to Red astonished

"I bumped into her when I was exploring the ship!" Paula cried in astonishment.

"Wow…" Red said gaping "Small world…"

"And our final battle! Mick Vs Eric Ashbel!" The announcer cried showing a pale boy with blue hair battling against a confident looking boy with hair that looked like fire (literally it was orange in the middle and red at the end). "I hope all the trainers and Pokémon try their best!" The announcer said smiling causing everyone to cheer again.

"Right it's time to decide who the best trainer is Kane!" Billy cried clenching his fist

"I've improved a lot since our last battle!" Kane said smiling

"Good luck you two whoever wins will have to battle me." I said grinning

"That's only if you beat that Katie girl!" Red reminded me.

"No problem. It will be a walk in park." I said shrugging

"Don't count your Pokémon before they're captured." Red said grinning.

"This is going to be intense." Paula said and everyone nodded

"Let the battle begin!" Everyone (expect Liz) cried in unison.

**Billy's POV**

I stood on one side of the field facing Kane while Liz sat in my hood looking bored.

"Each trainer will use four Pokémon!" The referee cried "If you use a Pokémon exceed the height/weight limit you will immediately be disqualified. Also if you use any of the banned moves the match will be call off and we'll have to evacuate the ship! You can substitute your Pokémon at any time! Do you both agree to these rules?" the referee questioned causing both of us to nod. "Then let the battle begin!"

"Let's get going! My new Pokémon! Angela!" Kane cried releasing a Mankey.

"I'll use my new member as well! Let's get going Laura!" I cried in determination releasing my Shellder.

"Angela use Karate Chop!" Kane yelled

"Laura use Icicle spear to stop it getting close!" I instructed. The Mankey charged towards Laura her hand glowing as Laura fired several Icicles toward her.

"Jump on those icicles!" Kane commanded and the Mankey leapt from icicle to icicle before falling towards Laura her arm outstretched.

"Laura dodge!" I yelled as the Mankey fell toward her Laura made no effort to move before she was slammed with the attack causing her to cry in pain. "Laura! Why didn't you dodge?!" I yelled

"Shellder der shell!" Laura yelled sounding angry.

"Liz?" I questioned the Pokémon in my hood.

"Chu Pichu." She said pointing to her legs.

"So are you saying that she said she couldn't run away?" I questioned causing Liz to nod. "So that's why… I'm not used to a Pokémon without arms or legs… sorry Laura!" I apologised causing her to stick her tongue at me and when I glanced at Liz for her to shrug.

"I hate to irrupt you getting used to your new Pokémon but we are in the middle of a battle!" Kane reminded me "Angela use fury swipes!"

"In your shell Laura!" I yelled the Mankey swiped at Laura who just hid in her shell. Angela eventually stopped and looked at her claws wondering why her attack wasn't working. "Now Laura use Supersonic!" Laura's shell snapped open and she fired a yellow beam which engulfed Mankey making her confused. "Now use Clamp!" I ordered

"Angela use Scratch on its fleshy body!" Laura bounced slightly and clamped down on Angela's arm causing her to wince in pain. Then the Mankey tried to scratch Laura's body but ended up completely missing the attack due to confusion. "Angela keep using scratch!" The Mankey continued to swipe at Laura occasionally hitting herself until she landed a direct hit causing Laura to fall to the floor in pain. Angela shook her head rapidly clearing it of confusion.

"Laura use Tackle!" I cried

"Angela use Low kick!" Kane ordered. Laura bounced slowly towards Angela causing me to sigh. The Mankey merely stood there until Laura had reached her before kicking her away sending her flying.

"Laura go in your shell again!" I cried and Laura's shell snapped shut just before she slammed into one of the surrounding walls. There was silence and I stared at Laura until it was clear that she had fainted.

"Shellder has fainted therefore the winner is Mankey!" The referee declared "Billy now has three Pokémon left!"

"It was our first battle as well…" I said in disappointment before returning her.

"Don't be too worried about it you guys haven't got used to each other yet!" Kane reassured me causing me to frown.

"Well the next one has been with me from virtually the beginning! Let's get going Nicolas!" I cried releasing my Nidorino.

"Angela let's defeat this one as well!" Kane cried in determination causing Angela to smile. "Use Low Kick!"

"Nicolas use Horn Attack!" The Pokémon ran towards each other and Angela kicked at Nicolas who jumped over her leg and slammed his horn under her chin making her cry out in pain.

"Angela!" Kane cried out but his Mankey had fainted. "You did really well… I guess the damage from the last battle was just too much …" He said returning his Pokémon.

"Mankey has fainted! Each challenger has three Pokémon left!" The referee announced

"… Now it's your turn Charlie!" Kane cried releasing his Clefairy.

"Charlie?" I questioned "I was expecting you to use Josephine…" I admitted "No matter! Nicolas use Double Kick!" Nicolas charged towards Charlie eagerly.

"Charlie use Thunderbolt!" Charlie fired a powerful blast of electricity towards Nicolas who narrowly dodged the attack before hitting Charlie with a Double Kick sending Charlie skidding to the left.

"Alright keep the pressure up with a Horn Attack!" I yelled

"Charlie Protect!" Nicolas turned to attack Charlie but Charlie quickly put up a barrier stopping Nicolas in his tracks as he push fruitlessly against the barrier. "Now Double Slap!" Kane yelled.

"Counter that Double Slap with your Fury Attack!" The barrier broke and the Pokémon charged towards each other and Charlie swiped his hand toward Nicolas who blocked with his horn. Charlie used his other hand to attack Nicolas this time hitting his cheek. Charlie kept attacking with Nicolas too stunned to defend himself. "Poison Sting!" I yelled getting desperate. Nicolas fired a series of poison needles toward Charlie scoring a direct hit because of the close range between the Pokémon. Charlie cried out in pain and began to glow purple. "Alright he's poisoned!" I cried in delight. "Let's finish this with Horn attack!"

"We won't give up! Charlie use Ice beam on the ground!" Nicolas charged forwards his horn glowing while Charlie fired a powerful Ice Beam at his feet causing Nicolas to fall onto his stomach. "Now hit him with Thunderbolt!" Charlie fired a powerful Thunderbolt hitting Nicolas causing him to cry out in pain. Charlie began to glow purple, a sign of the poison, and winced stopping the attack.

"Nicolas stand up quickly before he has a chance to recover!" I yelled as Nicolas struggled to his feet "Alright!" I yelled happily "Fury attack!"

"Charlie Double slap again!" Kane ordered. Nicolas charged forwards (a lot more slowly due to the ice) and attacked Charlie using his horn. Charlie used double slap to block the attack and I had a sense of déjà vu as Charlie began to swipe his other hand towards Nicolas. At the last possible second, Nicolas pushed Charlie's hand away and blocked his second hand before slamming Charlie in the stomach. "Charlie!" Kane cried out in surprise while Nicolas breathed heavily trying to regain some of his energy. It was clear that Charlie had fainted causing the crowd to cheer and Kane to sigh in disappointment. "You did well." He said returning his Pokémon.

"Clefairy has fainted therefore the winner is Nidorino!" The referee declared "Kane has two Pokémon left while Billy has three!"

"You okay to keep going?" I questioned Nicolas who nodded stubbornly.

"There's a reason I left Josephine until now!" Kane revealed causing me to blink in confusion. "You see Josephine is basically my strongest Pokémon I realised she's about equal to your Nidorino in term of strength! I'm guessing he's also one of your strongest?" Kane questioned and I said nothing looking at my tired Pokémon. "So I thought if I can make your Nidorino tired and take him out the rest of your Pokémon won't stand much of a chance. That way I won't have to use my fourth Pokémon!" Kane explained.

"Even so she would have to take out Nicolas first and two other Pokémon at full strength. No matter how strong it is that's tiring on any Pokémon!" I shouted.

"It's worth a try." Kane said shrugging "Go Josephine!" he released a powerful Nidorina who looked at the exhausted Nicolas and turned away unimpressed. "Fury attack!"

"Counter with your Fury attack!" the Nidoran evolutions charged towards each other (Nicolas being noticeably slower) and the two of them clashed horns as if they were sword fighting. It was clear that Josephine was slowly overpowering Nicolas. I had to do something to stop it!

"Nicolas use Poison sting!" I yelled as Nicolas fired the needles towards Josephine's eyes forcing her to shut them as the needles hit. "Get away from Josephine while she's blinded!" I cried and Nicolas ran away clearing some distance between the Pokémon.

"You're not getting away! Horn attack!" Kane cried eagerly

"Poison Sting! Keep her back!" Josephine charged towards Nicolas her horn glowing. Nicolas fired several poison needles but Josephine just knocked them away, being a poison type move the attack had little to no effect on her. Josephine slammed into Nicolas sending him flying away with a cry of pain. "Nicolas!" I cried with worry.

"Billy." Kane said sounding dark "I'm telling this to you as your friend that Nidorino looks exhausted maybe you should call it back."

"You're not my friend!" I snapped angrily "Nicolas! You okay?" I questioned as the tired Nidorino opened his eyes and stood up shakily making Josephine's and Kane's eyes widen. Nicolas roared defiantly before fainting. "Nicolas!" I cried with worry running onto the field.

"Mr. Derringer!" The referee snapped stopping me in my tracks "You're not allowed to go onto the field while a match is still in progress!"

"Right…" I muttered walking slowly back to my area and returning Nicolas. "Sorry." I said partly to the referee but mostly to Nicolas.

"You want to continue?" Kane questioned with concern on his face.

"Of course! Let's get going Steve!" I snapped releasing my Eevee, who grinned looking ready for battle.

"Josephine let's get the advantage and poison it!" Kane cried as Josephine a series of Poison sting attacks towards Steve.

"Steve use Quick Attack to dodge!" I cried quickly as Steve ran off in a burst of speed avoiding the attack (luckily the ice on the field had melted by this point).

"Running away again? I don't think so! Josephine keep using Poison Sting until you hit him!" Kane ordered. Josephine kept firing Poison Sting attacks as Steve dashed around the field sounding like he was laughing causing Josephine to roar sounding angry.

"Steve use Tackle and knock Josephine into the air!" I commanded

"Josephine use Poison sting and if it gets close use Horn attack!" Kane yelled. Steve charged towards Josephine narrowly dodging the onslaught of Poison Sting attacks. He had nearly reached her when he was hit causing him to grunt in pain but continue the attack so that he slammed in Josephine sending her into the air.

"Now use Bite!" I cried as Steve jumped up and bit Josephine in the stomach.

"Double Kick!" Josephine kicked out at Steve sending him flying. He landed wincing in pain before glowing purple.

"Oh no he's been poisoned!" I cried with worry and I noticed Liz rolling her eyes.

"Great now we can go on the offensive! Fury Attack, Josephine!" Kane cried delighted

"Well at least we don't have to worry about poison point now… Steve hit her with a Quick attack!" I yelled. Steve dashed towards Josephine and slammed into her before she had any chance to react sending her skidding at least a meter away. Then Steve glowed purple wincing as Josephine ran towards him slamming her horn into his side multiple times.

"It won't last much longer finish it with Horn attack!" Kane cried eagerly

"It's all or nothing! Use Take down Steve!" I ordered. The Pokémon ran towards each other again both were obviously exhausted as the last two attacks collided. Which Pokémon would come out on top?

**Liz's POV**

"Both Pokémon have fainted therefore this match was a tie! Both trainers have only one Pokémon left!" The referee cried causing the crowd to cheer.

"You did well." Billy said smiling returning Steve to his Poké ball.

"You too." Kane said returning Josephine and Billy looked very smug for some reason.

"How about we finish this starter against starter?" Billy asked grinning causing Kane to bit his lip.

"Do we have to?" I questioned but he obviously couldn't understand me.

"Well seeing as he's my only Pokémon left anyway… you're on! " Kane cried in determination

"LIZ!" Billy yelled causing me to jump onto the field.

"GO MARVIN!" Kane cried releasing his starter in a flash of light

"Karp."

"You've got to be kidding me." I said bluntly

"Karp. Karp. Karp. Karp. Karp. Karp. Karp. Karp. Magikarp. Karp. Karp. Karp. Karp." Marvin said as he flopped on the ground in front of me.

"Please tell me it's April fool's day or something." I said turning to Billy in despair.

"Liz you absolutely must defeat this Pokémon!" Billy cried pointing at the Magikarp.

"I absolutely must defeat a Magikarp?" I parroted questioning Billy sanity.

"Use ThunderPunch!" Billy ordered ignoring me

"Karp. Karp. Karp. Karp. Karp." Marvin flopped in front of me rather uselessly.

"….. I feel mean….." I said rubbing the back of my head feeling awkward. "He can't even talk…"

"Liz! Attack it!" Billy yelled in annoyance

"Seeing as you won't do anything we'll make our move!" Kane cried in determination "Marvin use Tackle!" The Magikarp flopped towards me trying to slam into me but I easily side stepped the Pokémon.

"Liz use Thundershock!" Billy yelled. I walked up to the flopping fish Pokémon and gave it a very light thundershock making it jump at least ten feet in the air.

"Karp! Karp! Karp! Karp!" Marvin yelled in pain flailing around

"Man... now I feel terrible…." I said feeling very guilty. Suddenly Marvin began glowing a brilliant white causing me to swallow in fear. "Uh-oh…"

"You know what this means!" Kane cried in delight

"It's evolving?!" Billy cried in surprise. Marvin began growing much, much larger soon towering over me. The glowing stopped revealing a very angry looking Gyarados which was cramped against the ceiling.

"Oh sh-" The newly evolved Gyarados roared loudly cutting off the rest of my sentence.

"Stop the battle!" The referee cried loudly causing lots of cries of protest to be heard. "Kane Humphries you are herby disqualified for using a Pokémon that exceeds the height limit!"

"What?!" Kane demanded in surprise

"Therefore victory goes to Billy Derringer by default!" The referee cried

"No fair! I didn't know Marvin would exceed the height limit if he evolved!" Kane protested

"Yer! I don't want victory just handed to me!" Billy also cried angrily

"Actually I'm fine not battling the giant blue dragon-like snake…." I said timidly as the Gyarados roared at me again making me jump in fright.

"Return your Pokémon now before the whole ceiling collapses!" The referee cried as Gyarados knocked a chandelier causing it to wobble violently.

"Return Marvin." Kane muttered bitterly causing the Gyarados to be absorbed back into its Poké ball.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Billy demanded angrily

"Well it's not like we could have continued battling anyway!" Kane resorted

"Argh! So frustrating!" Billy cried angrily stomping his foot.

"I bet you wouldn't be saying that if you got out of battling a giant dragon." I muttered annoyed at Billy.

"One day we'll have our battle then there won't be any silly things like height restrictions to get in our way!" Billy proclaimed pointing at Kane.

"I look forward to that day." Kane said smiling softly.

"Please leave the battle field so we can move onto the next battle." The referee said practically pushing us of the field causing us to bump into someone.

"Luke!" The boys cried in surprise

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Luke questioned blinking "You knew my battle was after yours."

"I forgot with all the excitement…" Billy admitted sheepishly and Kane nodded in agreement.

"It doesn't matter." Luke said shrugging. "Anyway Billy you better watch out because when I win this I'll be battling you! And the height limit won't help you with my team!"

"I don't need the height limit to help me!" Billy protested causing Luke to smile.

"Relax. I know you're a good trainer. I'm only teasing." Luke said sniggering

"I can't wait for our battle Liz." Shadow said grinning

"What makes you so sure we'll battle?" I questioned blinking

"Just a feeling." Shadow said shrugging.

"Anyway we've got to go!" Luke said running the field

"Wait for me!" Shadow cried chasing after him.

"Come on if we hurry back to the waiting area we can watch his match!" Kane cried eagerly causing the boys to dash off (while I clung onto Billy's hood for dear life) and burst into the room where our friends were waiting.

"Wow that's some entrance..." Red said in surprise staring at Billy and Kane while they gasped to regain their energy.

"This will be a 1V1 match between Luke Carlson and Katie!" The referee announced turning everyone's attention to the screen. "The person who knocks out their opponent's Pokémon first wins!"

"Harry snapshot!" Luke cried releasing his Hoothoot who, as usual, said nothing as he fluttered his wings to stay air born.

"GO! GO! GO! RADISH!" Katie cried releasing an Oddish who jumped in excitement.

"ohmygoshI'msoexcitedforthisbattle." The Oddish blurted causing me to blink.

"Harry use Hypnosis!" Luke cried quickly

"Radish dodge it!" Katie retaliated. Harry swooped down and his eyes began glowing a strange red. The Oddish attempted to run away but within seconds it had fallen asleep.

"Now use Peck!" Luke ordered

"Radish wake up!" Katie ordered desperately. Harry began pecking the sleeping Oddish and despite its trainers calls it kept sleeping until it fainted.

"Luke Carlson is the winner!" The referee cried causing the crowd to cheer.

"We didn't even get the chance to do anything..." The girl muttered bitterly returning her Pokémon before running off to who knows where.

"Now it's my turn to battle!" Paula cried eagerly "Just you wait I'll make it look as easy as Luke did!" She declared running off. Moments later she appeared on the television screen just as Luke walked back into the room.

"See I told you it would be easy." He said smugly

"SHUSH!" Everyone hissed in unison eager to see the battle.

"This match will be between Paula Haring and Denis! Each trainer will use one Pokémon!" The referee declared.

"Go Nasher!" Dennis cried releasing a Poochyena who sniggered mischievously.

"Alice show them who's boss!" Paula yelled releasing her Wartortle.

"Nasher start things off with a bite attack!" Denis yelled and his Pokémon charged forwards.

"Alice use Aqua jet!" Paula cried as Alice was surrounded with water and she flew towards the Poochyena knocking it into the air. "Keep up the pressure and use water gun!" Alice fired a powerful water gun knocking the Poochyena even further away slamming into one of the surrounding walls making it faint. "YES!" Paula cried happily "You were great Alice!" She said smiling happily causing Alice to smile softly.

"The next battle is Chloe vs Zack!" The referee announced as Paula left the stage.

**Bubbles' POV**

"I hate Arcanines!" Sparkette whined as we ran through the ventilation system

"Less moaning, more running!" I said quickly "Otherwise they'll catch up to us again!" we had a close call with the security guard and his Arcanine not too long ago while we were in the middle of trying to contact other people like me.

"Bubbles there has to be a better way to loss them than running throughout the ship!" Sparky said "we can't evade them forever!"

"I know!" I snapped causing the two Pichus eyes to widen. I hardly ever lost my temper. "I know…" I said more softly "but we don't have any other choice because no one seems to have responded to our message!"

"They're here! They're here! I can smell them!" A familiar voice said causing the three of us to share panicked looks.

"Gah! That Arcanine never gives up!" Sparky complained

"Like Pokémon, like trainer." Sparkette said sighing

"Come one we've got to run!" I said dashing off before looking behind me "Make sure you guys stick close to me this time!"

"Don't worry we're not planning on going anywhere." Sparky said grinning as the three of us raced through the air vents.

**Red's POV**

After a very intense battle the Chloe girl won against Zack. Now it was my rival Gary Levilus battling against Paula's contest rival Lucy Pennington.

"This will be an 3 Vs 3 Pokémon battle with each trainer allowed to make substitutions at any time!" The referee cried causing the crowd to cheer.

"Dazzle the crowd Dewgong!" Lucy said sounding bored releasing a powerful looking Dewgong.

"Battle until you can't stand Ivysaur!" Gary cried releasing the green evolved form of the traditional Kanto starter.

"I didn't know Gary had an Ivysaur!" Billy exclaimed in surprise

"He must have brought it from a salesman." I said feeling angry "Poor Pokémon..."

"Dewgong start things off with Aurora Beam!" Lucy ordered as her Dewgong fired a multicoloured beam towards the Ivysaur.

"Ivysaur dodge that attack and use Razor leaf!" Gary yelled frowning at his Ivysaur, who visibly flinched (making me clench my fist) before complying. Ivysaur just narrowly dodged Dewgong's attack before firing a powerful razor leaf which hit Dewgong making it cry out in pain.

"Dewgong use Ice Beam!" Lucy yelled with a slight frown

"Ivysaur block that attack with Razor leaf!" Gary said

"He's clashing the attacks!" Kane cried in surprise "But that won't end well for Ivysaur!"

"He's probably testing his new Pokémon's strength." Luke mused sounding disgusted. The two attacks clashed and as Kane predicted the leaves of razor began to freeze and fall to the ground just before Ivysaur was knocked with the attack sending it skidding back as it cried with pain.

"Not bad." Gary said grinning as the Ivysaur struggled to its feet.

"Dewgong finish that Ivysaur off with Icy wind!" Lucy ordered

"Ivysaur dodge and use Synthesis!" Gary yelled. Dewgong fired a powerful icy wind towards Ivysaur who attempted to dodge but ended up getting hit slightly making Gary grit his teeth. Ivysaur began glowing and within seconds it looked in a lot better condition than previously.

"Dewgong use Signal Ice!" Lucy said her gaze calculating.

"A co-ordination move? Okay we'll use our own! Ivysaur use Sleep Leaf!" Gary yelled. Dewgong fired an Ice beam attack which was surrounded by a Signal beam attack. If that hit Ivysaur it wouldn't be able to get back up again. Ivysaur fired a group of leaves throughout the stage making itself invisible. The signal ice attack hit the leaves but the leaves were immediately replaced and there was no sign of Ivysaur. Dewgong stopped its attack for a moment looking around and its eyes began to droop before it fell asleep.

"Dewgong what happened?" Lucy questioned her sleeping Pokémon.

"How about I enlighten you?" Gary questioned grinning as his Ivysaur became visible "That was Razor leaf combined with Sleep power and it was spread all over the field. Sooner or later your Pokémon will fall asleep."

"A clever tactic." Lucy admitted sounding impressed. "I might just steal it for a contest. Return Dewgong!" She cried returning her sleeping Pokémon.

"You're not keeping it out?" Gary questioned sounding surprised "I did some research and that's your strongest Pokémon. Without it you don't stand a chance against me." Gary said sounding smug

"That's why I keeping it to fight another time! Besides I've learnt your Ivysaur's weakness! Go Emolga!" She cried releasing a Pokémon that looked like a flying squirrel.

"Isn't that Pokémon native to Unova?" Gary questioned raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. And it's quite rare there as well I'm sure you'll like to know." Lucy said sounding like she was gloating causing Gary to frown. "You're not the only one who has been doing research! Your buying habits are quite famous Gary."

"I'll have to make more of an effort to make my life private..." Gary mused "Ivysaur knock the squirrel out of the sky with Vine whip!"

"Emolga fly around in circles!" Lucy ordered sounding serious. Ivysaur extended its vines and swiped at the Emolga who merely flew over the vines. "Now Aerial Ace!" Emolga swooped down and knocked Ivysaur with an Aerial ace attack which was too much for the poor Pokémon making it faint.

Ivysaur has been knocked out Gary now has two Pokémon left while Lucy has three!" The referee cried and the crowd burst into cheers.

"You're too slow." Gary said sounding disappointed withdrawing his Pokémon. "Lucy Pennington I can see you're a worthy opponent!" Gary said breaking out into a grin "I won't go easy on you anymore! Go Scyther!" he cried releasing his green bug type Pokémon.

"Emolga I'll stick with you!" Lucy announced and her Pokémon nodded.

"Scyther Slash!"

"Counter with Aerial Ace!" Scyther ran forwards at high speed while Emolga flew towards Scyther just as fast. Scyther swiped at Emolga with its scythe who counted in an Aerial Ace attack. Scyther then swiped its other arm at Emolga and hit it dead on causing the Pokémon to crash into the ground.

"Scyther knock it out with Fury Cutter!" Gary yelled sensing he was getting the upper hand.

"Emolga! Use Spark!" Lucy retailed quickly. Scyther swiped down at Emolga who fired a powerful electric blast electrocuting Scyther causing it to cry out in pain as Emolga leapt back into the air.

"Scyther you go into the air as well!" Gary yelled as his Scyther took flight and Luke took lots of pictures.

"Luke stop taking pictures!" Billy complained

"Do you know how rare it is to see a Scyther in flight?!" Luke questioned sounding excited "I'm not missing this opportunity!"

"But Luke we can't watch the battle if you're taking pictures of the screen!" Kane complained "Surely it's not the same taking a picture of a screen anyway!"

"Your right…" Luke muttered bitterly "But I'll probably never get to see it again…"

Don't worry Luke!" Billy said patting his back "If I ever catch a Scyther you can take loads of pictures of it!" He said happily

"What do you mean if you ever catch a Scyther?" I questioned angrily causing Billy to panic.

"Chu pi." Liz sighed from Billy's hood.

"Now Scyther use Wing Attack!" Gary yelled interrupting us (probably for the best).

"Emolga use Double Team!" Lucy ordered calmly. Scyther flew towards Emolga rapid as Emolga split into multiple copies confusing Scyther.

"Just attack them all!" Gary yelled causing Scyther to nod. Scyther swept past each Emolga copy with its wing glowing and one by one they all disappeared leaving none of them left. "What?! Where's the real one?!" Gary questioned looking around

"Now Emolga Acrobatics!" Lucy ordered causing her Emolga to reappear and slam into the Scyther causing it to cry out in pain. Gary however, was unfazed.

"Now Scyther before it gets away use Slash!" Scyther managed to fight through the pain slashing at Emolga sending it crashing into the ground where it fainted.

"Both challengers now have two Pokémon left!" The referee yelled

"Who do you think will win?" Paula questioned everyone biting her lip.

"Not sure Gary's Scyther quite tired but Lucy's Dewgong has already suffered some damage and Gary said that was her strongest Pokémon. Gary's not going to be holding back either." Luke said looking at both trainers while I stared wordlessly at the screen.

"Go Butterfree!" Lucy cried releasing the large butterfly Pokémon.

"So a battle against bug types?" Gary questioned grinning "Should be interesting…"

"It will be." Lucy said matching Gary's grin.

"Lucy's actually showing emotion!" Paula cried surprised

"She must be enjoying this battle." I concluded

"Butterfree use Confusion!" Lucy ordered returning to her cool attitude.

"Scyther show me you've learnt from Sabrina's gym!" Gary yelled as Scyther nodded in determination and closed its eyes. "Use X-Scissor!" Butterfree's eyes began glowing blue and Scyther was surrounded by blue light. Scyther's eyes snapped open and it began running towards Butterfree, still surrounded by blue light.

"Impossible! It's resistant to confusion's control?!" Lucy cried surprised as Scyther leapt up and swiped both arms toward Butterfree sending it crashing to the ground.

"When we were at Sabrina's gym my Pokémon were tossed around like rag dolls." Gary said darkly "So I started training my Pokémon to resist being controlled by psychic types. But I have to say Lucy that confusion attack was much weaker than anything Sabrina could produce! I expected more from you." Gary said shrugging "Keep attacking Scyther use Slash!"

"Butterfree use Silver wind!" Lucy said calmly but her face looked panicked. Scyther swiped down at Butterfree who flapped its wings quickly, successfully blowing Scyther away. "Now use Psybeam!" Lucy ordered as her Butterfree flew into the air and fired a Psybeam at Scyther.

"Did you not just hear my speech about psychic type moves?!" Gary asked as the attack hit Scyther's scythe not damaging it at all.

"Oh I heard it alright!" Lucy called back "Butterfree use Psybeam and Silver wind!" She cried as Butterfree started flapping its wing unleashing a purple and silver wind. "I wonder if your Pokémon can stand up to that?!" Lucy called causing Gary to frown.

"Scyther take it head on!" Gary yelled

"What?!" everyone questioned in unison.

"Use Wing attack to power yourself through and when you get close use X-Scissor!" Gary clarified

"His Pokémon won't be able to take that much damage… will it?" Billy questioned looking at us. Gary's Scyther plunged head first into the Silver wind/Psybeam attack and began powering its wings.

"Butterfree full power! Don't let it get through!" Lucy yelled as her Butterfree increased the power of the attack. Scyther gritted its teeth and continued to flap its wings faster and faster until… it broke through the attack hitting Butterfree with a powerful X-Scissor attack. There was a moment of silence as Butterfree weakly fluttered into the air and Scyther collapsed out of energy.

"You should have been able to carry on through that attack." Gary said recalling his Pokémon and glaring at the Poké ball. "At this rate we'll never be ready to re-challenge Sabrina's gym..."

"Lucy now has two Pokémon left! Gary you are on your last Pokémon!" The referee cried as the crowd cheered and Gary nodded.

"Raichu you're up." Gary said darkly as the electric type walked onto the field. "Raichu. ThunderPunch full power."

"No way!" Paula cried in surprise "Lucy's Pokémon is on its last legs and he's still going to attack with all he's got?!"

"That's just the kind of trainer Gary is." I said as the Raichu ran up to Butterfree and hit it with a powerful ThunderPunch knocking it out.

"Lucy now you are on your last Pokémon." The referee said.

"I figured." Lucy said rolling her eyes returning her Butterfree. "Go Dewgong!" She cried releasing the water/ice type who had now woken up but still looked quite tired.

"Raichu use Thunderbolt!" Gary called out arrogantly.

"Signal beam!" Lucy cried. Raichu fired a powerful thunderbolt and Dewgong (despite its tiredness) managed to fire a signal beam which was just as powerful and the two attacks collided cancelling each other out.

"Raichu Quick attack!" Gary called quickly.

"Let's turn the field to our favour! Dewgong use Ice beam!" Lucy ordered. Raichu dashed forwards as Dewgong fired an Ice Beam causing it to slip and slide and its feet to get frozen in place. "Now Dewgong slide forwards and use a close range Icy wind!"

"Raichu use Iron Tail to break free!" Dewgong slide forwards perfectly at home on the ice as Raichu's tail began glowing and Raichu slammed it onto the ice sending several shard into the air making Dewgong flinch. Then Raichu ran forwards (now free of the ice) and slammed its tail onto Dewgong's head knocking it away. Dewgong sat up and roared at Raichu making Lucy smile softly. "I enjoyed this battle at first. It was enjoyable to battle someone who is at least somewhat challenging. But I'm afraid I have to end it here. RAICHU USE THUNDER!" Gary yelled cockily

"I wouldn't count me out just yet! Dewgong Ultimate Combination!" Lucy called causing her Dewgong to straighten up a bit "Signal Ice Wind Beam!" Lucy blurted out quickly

"She really needs to shorten the combination name down a bit…" I said raising my eyebrows

"To what? S.I.W.B?" Billy guessed causing me to laugh

"Shut up you guys!" Paula hissed her eyes wide in amazement. Dark clouds began to gather on the stage over Raichu and you could see the lights flickering on and off. At the same time Dewgong closed its eyes and began charging up what look like a Signal and Ice beam attack but instead of firing it the Dewgong continued charging up the attack and small snowflakes began to fall from the 'ultimate attack'.

"Fire now!" Both trainers cried in unison. A huge lightning bolt came crashing towards Dewgong who fired a powerful beam which was multicoloured and had snow falling off it making the crowd gasp. The attacks collided and battled for dominance before Dewgong's Attack broke through hitting Raichu. There was silence as the mist causing from the attack cleared revealing Gary's Raichu had fainted.

"Gary had lost all his Pokémon! Therefore the winner is Lucy!" The referee cried and the crowd roared and cheered.

"We still couldn't perfect that ultimate attack…" Lucy muttered bitterly making me blink. It had seemed pretty ultimate to me… "But at least you won." She said returning her Dewgong before walking away.

"I lost…" Gary said in surprise holding his Raichu. He frowned fiercely standing up. "We'll just have to train even harder from now on." He said walking away.

"He shows no concern for his fainted Pokémon…" I said sighing for the poor Raichu.

"Isn't it time for your battle?" Kane questioned

"Right! I forgot!" I said standing up making my friends laugh. "See you guys in a few minutes!" I said running onto the battle field and I noticed my opponent was already standing there.

"Red and Gerald!" The referee cried attracting my attention. "This match will be a 1 VS 1 Pokémon battle!" The referee announced.

"Go Dratini!" Gerald cried releasing a small blue dragon Pokémon.

"That's a really rare Pokémon..." I said raising an eyebrow

"Yep I caught it just for this tournament!" Gerald said happily causing me to frown.

"So you took a Pokémon miles away from its own home just to compete?" I questioned in surprise.

"Of course!" Gerald proclaimed placing his hands on his hips. "All of my other Pokémon are too good to be thrashed around in battle!" He said causing the Dratini to look glum

"How could you hurt your Pokémon's feelings like that?!" I questioned angrily "Pokémon aren't just characters in some video game! They have thoughts and feelings!" I shouted

"What's with you?!" Gerald questioned putting his hands up in defence. "It's what all trainers do, catch Pokémon. It's a given in life." He said shrugging.

"Well my Pokémon chose to come with me!" I said "I'll defeat you using a Pokémon which trusts a respects me! Then you'll see why it's important to respect your Pokémon! Go Dewott!" I cried releasing a medium size otter like Pokémon with a shell on each leg. Dewott looked at me and sensing my anger glared at my opponent.

"Dratini use Slam!" Gerald ordered and Dratini jumped towards my Dewott.

"Dewott could you use Water gun?" I asked calmly as Dewott fired a powerful water gun blasting the Dratini away. "Razor Shell."

"Dodge it!" Gerald yelled as Dewott dashed forwards Dratini who dodged most of the attack but still got slightly hit."Now Dratini use Dragon Rage!"

"Please Dewott use Water Pulse." I said. Dratini began shaking and glowing red and it fired a powerful dragon rage attack which Dewott narrowly dodged. The Dewott fired a powerful water Pulse attack damaging Dratini greatly also confusing it. "Now Dewott, please use Aqua Tail."

"Dratini dodge it!" Gerald yelled desperately but either because it was confused of it didn't want to obey Dratini didn't comply getting hit with the powerful water attack knocking it out. "No way…" Gerald said in surprise staring at the Dratini "I knew I shouldn't have caught this stupid Dratini!" He cried crushing its Poké ball before running off.

"Hey you can't just abandon this Pokémon!" I cried in protest "You're hurting its feelings!"

"Just watch me!" Gerald said sniggering before disappearing into the crowd.

"Red won..." The referee said quietly not knowing what to do and I ignored him.

"For the time being I'll take you back to the others." I said smiling at the Dratini who opened its eyes weakly. "We'll find some way of getting you back to your home wherever that maybe." I told it as it fell asleep in my arms. I smiled before walking back into the waiting area

"Horary!" My friends said in unison crowding around me.

"What?!" I said in surprise

"You showed that trainer who was boss!" Paula said happily "It's sad that he abandoned Dratini... but I can't help thinking it will probably be better off anyway." She said looking at the sleeping Pokémon.

"Here." Luke said passing me a small bottle "It's only a potion but it will make the Dratini feel better." He said smiling passing me a Potion which I quickly sprayed onto Dratini.

"I only wish I could have thrashed that guy as well." Billy proclaimed clenching his fist.

"What are you going to do with that Pokémon?" Kane questioned me and I looked at it.

"I promised to find its home so that's what I'm going to do." I said in determination "No one else is going to hurt this Dratini." I promised and it might have been my imagination but I thought I saw it smile at these words.

**Aiden's POV**

"Stupid ventilation system what kind of annoying Pokémon hides in here?" I grumbled as I crawled along. I was just about small enough to fit through the vents but it was uncomfortable as hell. I sniffed and nodded to myself. I was getting closer to the Pokémon that had left the message. I needed to find them before Eric's battle because if it's a 6 VS 6 fight he'll need me. Then again I noticed only one of the competitors had six Pokémon… Billy something or other… As long as Eric doesn't face that guy he'll be fine.

"Run!" Voices cried and next thing I knew two very familiar Pichus slammed into me followed by a strange blue Buneary.

"What's a Vulpix doing here?" The Buneary questioned

"I know you two!" I cried pointing my paw at the Pichus ignoring the Buneary.

"You do?!" They questioned in unison.

"Yer Eric helped capture you in that plastic box! How did you escape?!" I questioned

"That was your trainer?!" The Pichu that look like a Pikachu growled his cheeks sparking. "Do you have any idea how much trouble he's put us through?!"

"Hey he was only trying to help the security guard out!" I defended

"Sparky!" The Buneary called "This is no time for fighting!" The Pikachu-Pichu sighed and relaxed no longer looking like he might attack me. "Now what's a Vulpix doing here?" She questioned me

"Did you try and sneak on board as well?" The Pikachu with the spiky left ear questioned curiously. This Pichu was obviously female.

"What? No!" I said amazed that these three Pokémon had somehow gotten on board. "Me and Eric we heard the voices through the air vents so I decided to see if I could find the source of the voices." I explained

"You and this Eric heard the voices?" The Buneary questioned sounding excited

"You're looking for the source?" The spiky eared Pichu said grinning.

"Someone responded to our message!" The females cried happily hugging each other

"Your message? You're the source?" I repeated doubtful.

"I can't believe there are actually others like you Bubbles!" Spiky ear said happily jumping around ignoring me.

"I know! I can see if these others have any information about the Pokémon who cursed me!" The Buneary cried also jumping around.

"You can turn into a human?!" I questioned blinking and sniffed the air. Yep this girl smelt like a human which meant either one of two things. Either she had a trainer and was just a crazy Buneary. Or she could actually turn into a human. They ignored me again and continued jumping around.

"Hold on!" The Pikachu-Pichu said suddenly "I don't trust this guy!"

"Sparky…" The Buneary said touching his arm.

"No what if you were right Bubbles?" He questioned the Buneary causing her to blink. "What if the bad guy could actually hear our message and he's sent this Vulpix as a spy to gain our trust!"

"What bad guy?" I questioned getting increasingly confused "Does this have something to do with what that Ninetails was talking about? The evil plot?" I questioned causing everyone to acknowledge me.

"What are you talking about?" the three Pokémon questioned in unison

"Well the Amethyst Ninetails... that's what cursed Eric… he was saying that there was a plot coming so big that might explode… he gave Eric a ticket to this ship-"

"-the Gold Buneary never gave us a ticket!" Spiky-ear complained and the other two shushed her.

"-and he said we needed to help stop the events that transpire." I finished "Of course he didn't give me any clue of what those events may be."

"The Gold Buneary mentioned something similar…" Bubbles said in realisation "She said that thousands of innocent people would need my help… but she didn't say why… or how I would help them."

"I guess we're on this ship for the same reason then." I concluded and the group fell silent.

"Okay I'll trust you." Bubbles said eventually.

"What?!" Pikachu-Pichu hissed

"Sparky. Sparkette." She said turning to the Pichus sounding serious. "This is a chance to find others like me. And maybe help that girl as well. And stop whatever's going to happen." She said "I'll need you guys with me now more than ever."

"Bubbles… I'm with you." Spiky-ear said holding Bubbles' hand.

"Sparky?" The two of them questioned in unison

"Don't worry I'm with you." He said grinning and the three of them hugged.

"As touching as this is we need to get a move on." I said.

"Right." The three of them said in unison breaking apart.

"Okay let's go back to Eric." I said determination attempting to move before realising I had got stuck. "Um... could you guys give me a push?"

**Luke's POV**

"Now it's the 1 VS 1 match of Aurora VS Justin! Let the battle begin!" The referee cried

"Go Cyndaquil!" Justin cried releasing the small fire mouse Pokémon.

"Adolfo…" The girl muttered softly and the black fox leapt from her arms.

"That's a Zoura…" Red said in amazement "They're really rare…" He said patting the Dratini in his arms.

"Is it just me or does that girl not look too well?" Kane questioned.

"I got a glimpse of her when we boarded the ship and she looked a lot better than she does now…" Paula said biting her lip.

"The Zoura doesn't look too great either..." I noticed

The two Pokémon faced each other but the Zorua looked like it just wanted to go to bed and not battle.

"Cyndaquil use Flamethrower!" Justin yelled

"Adolfo… Night daze…" Aurora said quietly. The Cyndaquil fired a powerful flamethrower straight towards Zoura. The Zoura unleashed a powerful dark energy which instantly put out the flames and knocked out Cyndaquil.

"That Zorua's strong." Shadow said in amazement and I nodded.

"Aurora is the winner!" The referee cried and Aurora and her Zorua walked away leaving the boy to run off with his injured Cyndaquil.

"Now its time for our last battle of the first round!" The announcer/referee cried "Please welcome Mike from Slateport city and Eric Ashbel from Cinnabar Island!" he cried as two boys walked in one with blue hair and one whose hair was tall and spiky and looked like fire it was orange in the middle and red at the end. The fire hair boy was also wearing fire them clothes wearing a red t-shirt with a orange jumper and smoky gray trousers. He was also wearing a huge backpack which didn't really fit into his outfit and a red headband.

"Go Ditto!" Mike cried releasing the pink blob Pokémon.

"Go Su!" Eric cried releasing a Torchic.

"I'm going to burn you up!" The Torchic proclaimed puffing up its chest.

"Su. Don't get over confident." Eric warned causing me to blink but I quickly shook the feeling off. Lots of trainers got impression of what their Pokémon was saying after gaining a close bond. The chances of him actually understanding the Torchic were low.

"Ditto Transform!" Mike order and the Ditto changed so it looked like they were now two Torchics on the field.

"You should have kept it as a Ditto." Eric said grinning. "I want to be the ultimate fire type trainer so you just made a huge mistake change into a fire type which is my Torchic at that."

"We'll see Ditto use Ember!" Mike cried but Ditto looked at him confused.

"Ember? My Torchic forget that weak fire type move ages ago." Eric said shrugging "Su use Aerial Ace!"

"Counter that Aerial Ace with your Aerial Ace!" Mike ordered. The Torchics ran towards each other glowing white and clashed into each other. However, one Torchic took it worse than the other and fell to the ground in pain. "Ditto!" Mike cried somehow knowing the difference.

"Ditto is unable to battle! Eric and Torchic are the winners!" The referee cried switching into 'announcer' mode. "The first round for the tournament is now complete! Here are the battles for the second round! First battle Billy Derringer Vs Luke Carlson! Second! Paula Haring Vs Chloe! Third! Lucy Pennington Vs Red! And last but not least! Aurora Vs Eric Ashbel!"

"You better get ready to lose Luke!" Billy proclaimed his fist clenched

"Because apparently we stand a chance of beating someone who has been training for three years." Liz said sulking

"Luke did spend most of those three years taking pictures." Shadow pointed out. We walked onto the battlefield and each took one side of the field.

"This will be a 3 VS 3 Pokémon battle with each trainer allowed to make substitutions!" The referee cried.

"Let's do this thing Steve!" Billy cried releasing his Eevee.

"How about we let these two battle their rivalry out?" I questioned picking up a Poké ball off my belt. "Blaze Snapshot!" I cried releasing my Charmander.

"We're not working together are we?" Blaze questioned with despair clear on his face. I shook my head softly causing him to grin broadly.

"You're going down!" Steve proclaimed

"You won't know what burnt you by the end of this battle!" Blaze said grinning arrogantly.

"Steve start things off with a Bite attack!" Billy ordered

"Blaze use Brick Break!" I yelled. Steve charged towards Blaze his teeth glowing as Blaze swiped his glowing arm towards Steve he jumped and bit Blaze's arm. Blaze winced and tried to shake Steve off his arm before hitting Steve with a Brick Break attack using his other arm sending Steve flying.

"Steve you okay?!" Billy questioned as Steve stood up and shook his head.

"I'm good to go Billy!" Steve yelled grinning

"Great! Hit Blaze with a Quick attack!"

"Use Flamethrower!" I commanded

"With pleasure!" Blaze yelled unleashing a huge Flamethrower straight towards Steve. Steve went into a quick attack narrowly dodging the large fire and slammed into Blaze causing him to grunt with pain.

"Blaze use Slash!" I yelled. Blaze managed to swipe at Steve hitting the Eevee's head.

"Steve Tackle attack quickly!" Steve recovered from the Slash attack and slammed into Blaze sending him falling backwards.

"You call that an attack? It barely hurt." Blaze said standing up gasping obviously tired

"Shut up stupid name!" Steve resorted also gasping

"What?!" Blaze growled

"Those boys never learn do they?" Shadow questioned sighing as Blaze's tail fire turned blue.

"I'll teach you not to make fun of my name once and for all!" Blaze cried unleashing a powerful Dragon Pulse attack. Steve yelped and narrowly dodged the attack.

"Steve use Take down!" Billy ordered

"Blaze keep using Dragon Pulse Attack!" I commanded "Even though you would even if I didn't order you to…" I muttered softly. Steve ran forwards glowing red as Blaze fired several powerful Dragon rage attacks. Steve narrowly dodged each attack until he was hit dead on.

"Steve!" Billy cried and Steve gritted his teeth and continued running forwards slamming Blaze with the Take down attack before fainting.

"Blaze are you okay?!" I questioned my Charmander who was swaying violently.

"What are you talking about? I'm completely… fine…" Blaze said giving me a thumbs up sign before also fainting.

"Return Blaze… you did well." I said returning my stubborn Charmander.

"Steve come back." Billy said returning his Eevee. "You've gotten a lot stronger." He said smiling softly. "Now it's your turn! Let's get going Daniel!" He cried releasing his small Cubone.

"Mama?" He questioned looking around causing Liz to sigh and Daniel's face to light up when he saw her.

"I'm sure your Cubone is smaller than its average size…" I said taking a few pictures of it causing Daniel to blink at me confused.

"Luke we're in the middle of a battle here!" Billy protested angrily

"Right…" I said sheepishly putting my camera away while laughing. "Harry Snapshot!" I cried releasing my Hoothoot.

"Daniel use Bone club!" Billy ordered as Daniel ran forwards with his club raised.

"Harry fly out of range." I ordered calmly. Daniel leapt towards Harry who flew up slightly making Daniel's eyes widen. Daniel landed on the ground and looked up at the flying Hoothoot. "Now use Peck!" Harry swooped in close and started pecking at Daniel who winced at each attack.

"Daniel use Headbutt!" Daniel slammed his head forwards connect it with Harry's head making him fall backwards slightly. "Now use Bone club!"

"Harry use Uproar!" Daniel attempted to swipe his club towards Harry who started screeching loudly making Daniel flinch and back off covering his ears (he has ears?).

"I hate it when you use that move." Shadow whimpered also covering his ears.

"I try not to make a habit of it…" I muttered feeling dizzy as Harry continued to screech.

"How can a Pokémon who can't even speak make that much noise?" Liz complained burying her head in Billy's hood.

"That's a good point." Shadow muttered as Harry's screeching stopped. "Oh finally! We'll have to ask Harry about it later."

"Daniel use Bone Club!" Billy ordered

"Harry go into the sky!" I yelled as Daniel attempted to swipe his club at Harry who flew into the air dodging the attack.

"Argh! This is frustrating!" Billy yelled "Daniel just throw your club at it!" Surprisingly, Daniel complied throwing his club towards Harry. The club spun around like a boomerang heading straight towards Harry.

"That's Bonemerang!" I cried in realisation as Harry was hit by the club which flew back into Daniel's hands. "Harry use Hypnosis!" Harry's eyes began glowing red and Daniel's eyes began drooping until he had fallen asleep.

"Daniel wake up!" Billy cried frustrated

"Use Confusion Harry!" I yelled. Harry's eyes began glowing blue and Daniel was surrounded by blue light. Daniel was lifted up into the air and thrown multiple times into the ground until he had fainted.

"You're my last hope Liz!" Billy cried and Liz jumped into the field.

"This should be fun." She said sounding extremely bored

"Liz hit Harry with a Thundershock!"

"Harry dodge and use Hypnosis!" Liz fired and powerful Thundershock and Harry attempted to flutter out of the way but still got hit making him fall to the ground and faint.

"Well that was surprisingly easy…" Liz said blinking as I returned Harry.

"You did have a type advantage… but now it's my turn!" Shadow said running onto the field eagerly.

"Liz use ThunderPunch!" Billy ordered as Liz ran forwards her fist sparking with electricity.

"Shadow use Faint attack!" I yelled. Liz reached Shadow and swiped her fist at him but he disappeared causing Liz to crash on the ground. Then Shadow reappeared behind Liz slamming into her making her cry out with pain.

"Liz use Sweet Kiss!" Billy commanded and Liz kissed her hands and blew towards Shadow making a heart which hit him causing him to stagger around and his eyes to go cloudy.

"Shadow are you okay?!" I questioned

"Why are there four of you Mater Luke?" Shadow questioned struggling to stay upright.

"Liz use Thundershock while Shadow's confused!" Billy yelled and Liz fired a powerful thundershock hitting Shadow dead on causing him to cry out with pain.

"Shadow use Quick attack!" I ordered. Shadow ran forward in a burst of speed... in the completely wrong direction before he fell over hurting himself.

"Now Liz use ThunderPunch once more!" Billy yelled grinning

"Shadow, close range Shadow Ball!" Shadow's eyes cleared as Liz ran forwards her fist sparking and he fired a Shadow Ball hitting Liz and sending her flying. Liz landed painfully and struggled to her feet. "Now Shadow finish her with Snarl!" I yelled as Shadow snarl loudly blasting Liz away causing her to fly in the air and crash into the ground several times before coming to stop. Liz had swirls in her eyes revealing she had fainted.

"Billy has run out of Pokémon therefore the winner is Luke!" The referee cried loudly and the crowd roared loudly.

"Are you okay Liz?" I questioned running up to my friends.

"I'm... fine… I just need a little sleep…" She said before falling asleep in Billy's hood making me smile softly. "You were great Shadow." I said patting my friend on the head causing him to grin. Together we walked back to the waiting area were our friends greeted us.

"That was intense battle!" Kane said in amazement "We were on the edge of our seats!"

"I can't believe I lost though..." Billy muttered bitterly before looking around "Where's Paula?"

"It's time for her battle." Red said grinning with the Dratini around his neck.

"This will be a 1 VS 1 match between Paula Haring and Chloe!" The referee cried from the T.V. screen.

"Go Ponyta!" Chloe cried releasing a flaming horse Pokémon.

"Let's get going Felicity!" Paula yelled releasing her Growlithe.

"Ponyta let's start thing off with Flamethrower!" Chloe ordered as Paula grinned.

"Felicity you know what to do!" She cried as Felicity jumped into the fire and it got absorbed in her fur.

"So you Growlithe has Flash fire as its ability?!" Chloe questioned sounded surprised "When I first caught Ponyta I hoped it would have that ability but instead it just has run away..." She said and Ponyta looked disappointed.

"Felicity use Fire Spin!" Paula yelled as Felicity unleashed a huge fire spin which engulfed Ponyta making it faint.

"Paula is the winner!" The referee cried causing Paula and Felicity to jump happily as Chloe walked off somewhere.

"She'll be battling you in the next matches wont she?" Red questioned me

"You're right!" I realised.

"Battling more of our friends…" Shadow said sighing.

"It was going to happen sooner or later." I muttered while Red looked at me before shrugging.

"Anyway I'm off to battle Lucy." Red said standing up and leaving

"Good luck!" all of us cried in unison.

**Eric's POV**

I stared at the vents before sighing what was taking Aiden so long?

"This match will be Lucy Pennington Vs Red!" The referee cried attracting my attention. If I won against Aurora I would be facing either of these two in the next match. "Each trainer will use three Pokémon and can switch Pokémon at anytime!"

"Go Butterfree!" Lucy cried releasing a flying bug type.

"I would use Munchlax but he's too heavy… instead I'll use… Quilava." Red said smiling releasing his Pokémon in a flash of light.

"What's that Dratini doing here?" He said pointing to the Dratini on Red's shoulders who attempted to hide.

"This Dratini was abandoned by its trainer. When we get off the ship we'll help it find its home." Red said patting his Pokémon on the head as Quilava's face became serious.

"Okay I've got it." He said nodding "You don't need to worry little guy!" He said giving the Dratini a thumbs up. "Red's a good guy and so am I!"

"Butterfree start things off with Confusion!" Lucy ordered as Butterfree's eyes began glowing a dark blue lifting Quilava up into the air.

"Quilava use Flamethrower!" Red ordered causing the Quilava to fire a powerful Flamethrower straight towards the Butterfree hitting it causing it to cry with pain and Quilava to drop to the ground.

"Butterfree use Psybeam and Silver wind!" Lucy ordered calmly

"Quilava use Lave Plume!" Red yelled. The Butterfree sent a strange purple/silver wind straight towards Quilava. Quilava's back flames seemed to increase and fire exploded throughout the field and couldn't help feeling grateful that the ship was made of special reinforced metal. The attacks collided and pressed against each other. Then all of a sudden the Silver wind/Psybeam combo burst into flames probably because Silver wind is a bug type move. The fire spread straight towards Butterfree exploding in its face making it faint.

"That's only to be expected seeing as its weak to fire types…" Lucy muttered returning her fainted Pokémon.

"Lucy now has two Pokémon left while Red has all three!" The referee cried

"Quilava come back!" Red cried as he returned his healthy Pokémon. "I'll save you for later…" He said smiling. "Go Grovyle!" He cried releasing the evolved form of the green Hoenn starter who merely glanced at Dratini before focusing on the battle.

"Go Emolga!" Lucy cried releasing the flying electric squirrel.

"Grovyle use Leaf Blade!" Red cried his arm outstretched.

"Emolga Aerial Spark!" Lucy said placing a hand on her hip. Grovyle ran forwards its arm looked it had a green scythe on it as it slashed at the Emolga who flew over the attack. Emolga then hit Grovyle with an Aerial Ace attack causing it to cry out in pain as its whole body began showing signs of static electricity.

"Grovyle you okay?!" Red questioned.

"I'm fine Red." Grovyle said standing up straight as the electricity disappeared.

"Okay then use Slam!"

"Emolga use Double Team!" Grovyle leapt up and attempted to slam the large leaf on its head into Emolga but the Emolga just split into multiple copies surrounding Grovyle.

"Bullet Seed!" The Grovyle fired lots of green seeds at the copies making them all disappear until the real one was hit causing it to fall to the ground in pain. "Now use Leaf Blade!

"Emolga Acrobatics!" Lucy ordered. Grovyle swiped its arm down at Emolga who disappeared causing Grovyle to blink in confusion. Next thing Grovyle knew Emolga slammed into its back causing it to fall to the ground with pain. "Now Emolga finish it off with Aerial Spark!" Lucy yelled as Emolga flew towards Grovyle glowing white and sparking.

"Grovyle stop that attack in its tracks with Slam!" Grovyle threw its large leaf forwards clashing with the flying/sparking Emolga and sparks began to run through Grovyle's body causing it to wince with pain. Emolga got thrown backwards from Grovyle and it gritted its teeth with annoyance. Grovyle grinned happily before collapsing due to exhaustion.

"Grovyle has fainted therefore the winner is Emolga! Red now has two Pokémon left!" the referee announced

"You did well Grovyle take a rest." Red said returning his fainted Pokémon. "I'll use…" Red said thinking as Dratini slid onto the battle field. "Huh? You want to battle?" He questioned and the Dratini nodded. "Okay then I'll use Dratini!" Red said smiling a bit.

"Emolga let's defeat this one as well use Spark!" Lucy cried

"Dratini, please use Dragon Rage." Red requested

"Keep going with Spark attack but break up into Double team!" Lucy ordered. Dratini fired a powerful Dragon rage attack as Emolga split into several copies. The Dragon rage attack destroyed the copies one by one until the real one was hit causing it to cry with pain and crash into the ground.

"Emolga is unable to battle! Lucy you are n your last Pokémon while Red has two Pokémon left!" The referee declared.

"Dewgong claim the spotlight!" Lucy cried releasing her Dewgong who looked at at Dratini making it flinch. "Dewgong use Icy Wind!"

"Dratini use Twister!" Dewgong fired an icy wind attack towards Dratini who started glowing red and a twister appeared out of nowhere swallowing up the Icy wind attack and hitting the Dewgong making it cry with pain. "Now Dratini use Slam!" Dratini slide towards Dewgong rapidly and jumped into the air.

"Now Dewgong use Ice Beam!" Lucy ordered quickly and her Dewgong fired a powerful Ice beam attack hitting the Dratini.

"It's super effective…" I muttered quietly

"Dratini!" Red cried with worry as the Dratini opened its eyes slightly before fainting.

"Dratini has fainted! Red you are on your last Pokémon." The referee said casually

"You did well…" Red muttered picking up the Dratini and placing it by his feet. "Go Quilava!" Red cried re-releasing his fire type Pokémon.

"Dewgong use Signal Beam!" Lucy ordered

"Quilava use Smokescreen!" Red yelled. Dewgong fired a powerful Signal beam attack straight towards Quilava just as it covered the stage with smoke. It was unclear whether the attack had hit or not. "Now Quilava Swift and Lava Plume!" Out of the smoke came lots of stars which looked like they were on fire hitting the Dewgong making it moan in pain.

"Dewgong use Icy wind on the whole field!" Lucy yelled. Dewgong breathed in heavily and blew ice of over the field getting rid of the smoke revealing Quilava. "Now use Aurora Beam!"

"Counter that with Flamethrower!" Red yelled as the Dewgong fired a powerful beam of ice towards Quilava it countered with a powerful flamethrower which slowly pushed the Ice beam back.

"Dewgong use Signal Ice Wind Beam!" Lucy blurted out.

"Quilava heat things up with Flame Plume Wheel!" Red yelled. Dewgong began charging up an Ice/Signal/Aurora beam while Quilava jumped into a Flame Wheel attack and started using Flamethrower and Lave Plume making the Flame wheel a lot bigger but also making it look like it ahad spikes and every so often fire would explode from out.

"Fire!" Lucy yelled as her Dewgong fired its ultimate attack straight toward the giant spiky flame wheel. At the same time the Quilava dived into the ultimate attack and to Lucy's surprise started powering through it landing a direct hit knocking Dewgong out.

"Lucy has lost all her Pokémon! Red is the winner!" The referee cried and I switched off the TV.

"Eric it's your turn to battle." one of the tournament organisers said to me.

"Right I'm coming now." I told them and the person nodded before walking away. Where was Aiden? Surely he had found whoever was doing that message by now? I sighed and turned around getting ready to leave the room.

"Aaahhh!" some voices cried and next thing I knew Aiden landed on me followed by two familiar Pichus and a strange Buneary.

"Aiden? Who are these Pokémon?" I questioned looking at them rubbing my head

"These, believe it or not, are the voices we heard." Aiden said sitting upright.

"There you are!" a voice cried and we turned to security guard who looked very tired and frustrated with his Arcanine standing next to him. "I've caught you red handed!"

"What are you talking about?" I questioned blinking.

"Those Pokémon attacked a girl in the cargo hold! And you're their trainer!" The guard accused me.

"We didn't attack anyone it was the bad man!" the Pichus protested

"I am the only one who's lost here?" I questioned out loud but everyone ignored me.

"I'll be taking you into custody!" The guard announced "Arcanine use Flamethrower!" I yelped and ducked with the fire sailing above my head. I grabbed the four Pokémon and ran out of the room.

"What did I do?!" I questioned running away.

"Nothing but I think these Pichus are back luck!" Aiden cried looking over my shoulder.

"You haven't had to deal with them as long as I have!" The Buneary protested.

"We're not bad luck!" The Pichu with the spiky ear protested.

"Tell me that when I'm not being chased by an Arcanine!" I yelled running away.

**Paula's POV**

"What's taking this Eric guy so long to battle?" Billy complained loudly staring at the television screen.

"Attention everyone!" The referee cried turning everyone's attention to the TV screen "I've just received word that trainer Eric Ashbel is associated with the dangerous Pokémon on board the ship. As a result he is now also wanted and he is disqualified from the tournament. The trainer he was meant to be battling, Aurora is automatically in the next round." The referee explained. "So the next matches are Luke Carlson Vs Paula Haring and Red Vs Aurora."

"It's time for our battle." Luke said to me grinning.

"I know I can't wait!" I said and the two of us went onto the field.

"This match will between Paula and Luke Each Challenger is allowed only one Pokémon!" The referee declared causing me and Luke to nod.

"Shadow Snapshot!" Luke yelled and his Umbreon ran into the field.

"Alice let's get going!" I cried releasing my Wartortle.

"Shadow use Shadow ball!" Luke ordered

"Alice you use Water Pulse!" I commanded the two spheres collided with both of them becoming destroyed.

"Shadow use Faint attack!"

"Alice listen out for him! Then when he gets close use Aqua Tail!" Shadow disappeared and I looked around nervously for him. Alice was much more relaxed closing her eyes she was completely still expect for her ears twitching every so often. Shadow reappeared behind her and I gasped just as Alice's eyes snapped open and she swung her tail at Shadow landing a direct hit.

"Shadow while you're close use Bite!" Luke yelled.

"Go into your shell for protection!" I screamed. Shadow attempted to bit Alice's arm but she just hid inside her shell.

"Shadow use Snarl on the Shell! Send it flying!" Shadow snarled loudly causing me to wince and place my hands over my ears. I could only imagine what it sounded like to Alice because sounds echo in her shell. The power of the voice sent Alice flying into a nearby wall.

"You okay?!" I questioned and she stood up dizzily before nodding. "Okay Alice use Skull Bash!" Alice tucked her head in her shell before jumping towards Shadow.

"Shadow dodge with Quick attack!" Luke yelled. Shadow dashed off in a burst of speed narrowly dodging Alice's attack. "Okay close range Shadow ball!" Shadow fired a powerful Shadow ball hitting Alice in the middle of her attack sending her crashing into the ground.

"Alice!" I cried and then I sighed with relief as Alice stood up again.

"That Wartortle can really take a beating…" Luke said amazed getting his camera out causing Shadow to growl. "I know now's not the time or the place." He said sighing with disappointment putting his camera back.

"Alice use Aqua Jet!" I cried desperately.

"Shadow meet it head on with Quick Attack!" Alice burst forward surrounded by water while Shadow ran forward in a burst of speed surrounded by whit light. The two Pokémon crashed in the middle with neither showing any signs of weakness until Alice's eyes began to droop and Shadow pushed her away sending her once again into the ground.

"Alice!" I called filled with worry but I knew the battle was over before I saw her.

"Wartortle has fainted! Luke Carlson is the winner!" The referee cried causing the crowd to roar and cheer.

"You did your best." I said smiling softly returning Alice.

"That was an intense battle." Luke said grinning holding out his hand which I shook.

"Come on let's get back to the others." I said smiling as we walked back.

"We're back!" We called

"Hi!" Everyone else shouted

"That battle was awesome!" Kane exploded.

"Shush Red's going up now!" Billy demanded and we all turned to the TV.

"This will be a two on two match with no substitutions!" The referee announced

"Dewott go!" Red cried releasing his Dewott.

"Go Adolfo…" Aurora said quietly and her Zoura jumped onto the field.

"Dewott use Razor Shell!" Red ordered

"Adolfo use Roar…" Dewott ran towards Zoura a shell in each hand as Zoura roared loudly causing Dewott to flinch in fear. Dewott then got absorbed in a red light of a Poké ball as another Poké ball burst open.

"Munchlax!" Red's Munchlax cried happily and the referee blew his whistle loudly.

"Red you are disqualified for using a Pokémon that exceeds the weight limit!" the referee cried

"I didn't choose to send Munchlax out!" Red protested

"Therefore victory goes to Aurora!" the referee yelled ignoring him. Within minutes Red was back with us in the waiting room sulking.

"That's too bad Red…" Kane said patting his back feeling sympatric as he had been disqualified from his match as well.

"At least now I don't have to battle Luke." Red muttered happily as Luke appeared on the TV.

"This is it! Our final match of the tournament! Luke Carlson Vs Aurora!" The referee cried and the crowd cheered loudly.

**Aurora's POV**

"This will be a one on one match!" The referee cried and I stared at my opponent and nodded.

"Aurora." A familiar voice said through my ear piece causing me to freeze. "It's time you know what to do. Remember even if you don't comply I'll just do it myself." The voice said darkly but all was silent.

"Aurora you don't have to do this." Adolfo said from my arms.

"Even if we don't he will." I said sadly "I hate feeling so powerless!" I muttered angrily.

"Aurora…" Adolfo said sadly looking at me.

"You know the drill." I said pulling myself together "Everything from this point is an illusion… all these trainers will see is us getting absolutely trashed."

"In the mean time we'll set up Question Mark's machine." Adolfo said sounding bored but looking sad. "Then we'll be living in a nightmare."

"I know…" I said sadly "But Question Mark promised not to kill anyone apparently he needs everyone on this boat alive. Plus I can't lose anymore family members."

"I know." Adolfo muttered bitterly obviously angry that we were powerless to do anything in this situation.

"Remember everything from this point is an illusion." I repeated

"Expect the bit when the black fog will take control of thousands of innocent people…" Adolfo muttered sadly. "Though I wish that bit was an illusion…"

**No one's POV (but with Billy, Paula, Luke, Liz, Red and Kane)**

"Harry Snapshot!" Luke cried releasing a Hoothoot.

"Go Oshawott!" Aurora cried releasing a small blue otter

"Harry let's start things off with Hypnosis!" Luke ordered as the Hoothoot's eyes began glowing red.

"Oshawott use Dig to dodge!" Aurora cried as the Oshawott burrowed into the ground to avoid getting sleepy. "Now Double Team!" Lots of Oshawotts ran out of the hole causing Harry to look confused.

"Harry blow them away with Gust attack!" Luke commanded as his Hoothoot flapped his wings blowing all the copies away including the real one sending it crashing to the ground.

"Oshawott recover from that hit and use Cut!" Aurora cried as her Oshawott stood up and picked up its shell and started running towards Harry.

"Harry use Confusion attack!" Luke yelled and his Hoothoot's eyes began glowing blue surrounding the Oshawott with a blue light and picking it up.

"Oshawott use Hidden power!" Aurora cried quickly as her Oshawott fired several dark spheres (because its hidden power was a dark type move) which hit Harry dead on forcing him to drop the Oshawott. "Now Oshawott use Cut!" The Oshawott picked up its shell again and jumped up.

"Now Harry! Peck attack!" Luke yelled and the Hoothoot pecked the Oshawott fiercly causing it to fall to the ground and faint.

"Aurora's Pokémon has fainted therefore the winner of the tournament is Luke Carlson!" The announcer cried and the crowd burst into cheers. No-one noticed a single tear drop from Aurora's eye…"Here's your prize Luke!" The announcer said handing Luke a single bike voucher and several Safari Zone tickets.

"Alight I won the bike voucher and the Safari zone tickets!" Luke yelled happily waving the tickets in the air.

"Great job Luke!" Billy said grinning running onto the field.

"I'm so happy for you." Paula said happily.

"AHEM. CAN EVERYBODY HEAR ME IS THIS THING ON?" An unfamiliar male voice who sounded bored questioned over the speaker causing everyone to look at each other in confusion.

"What's going on?" The people questioned each other.

"AH. JUDGING BY THE SOUND OF PEOPLE TRYING TO BREAK INTO THE ROOM I'LL ASSUME EVERYONE CAN HEAR ME THAT'S GOOD. I'D LIKE TO INFORM YOU THAT IN A FEW HOURS THE WHOLE SHIP WILL BE UNDER MY CONTROL AND WE'LL BE GOING ON A SLIGHT DETOUR TO THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN."

"What?!" Everyone in the room (except Aurora) questioned in surprise.

"BUT DON'T WORRY. MOST OF YOU WILL BE JOINING OUR SIDE IN A FEW MINUTES REGARDLESS THOSE THAT DON'T… WELL LET'S JUST SAY IT'S NOT GOING TO BE A FUN TRIP FOR YOU."

"What the hell is this psycho blabbering on about?" A plump man demanded

"Why would we join some stranger that's hijacked a boat?" A woman questioned obviously confused.

"OH I FORGOT TO MENTION. YOU WON'T HAVE A CHOICE ABOUT JOINING OUR SIDE. UNLESS YOU HAVE A STRONG WILL YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO RESIST OUR CONTROL. EVEN IF YOU DO HAVE STRONG WILL BY THE END OF THIS TRIP YOU'RE GOING TO WISH YOU DON'T." The man said darkly as an all too familiar black fog substance began to pour in through the vents

"What is this?" several people demanded at once and a few people ran out of the room only to back slowly in.

"It's everywhere!" the people cried as several of them began coughing.

"It's burning my lungs!" They cried

"Everyone hold your breath!" Billy demanded "Otherwise you'll turn into a mind controlled zombie!"

"We can't hold our breath forever!" Kane cried beginning to cough

"JUST DO IT!" Billy snapped causing everyone to take a lungful of air. The room filled up with fog and nothing was visible for a few minutes. Suddenly out of the darkness a pair of glowing eyes opened followed by hundreds of others.

"It's-no good-I can't-last…" Red said coughing violently in taking a lot of the fog.

"Red!" Billy cried releasing his breath before coughing

"Don't you start breathing!" Kane cried shaking Billy's shoulder's violently before beginning to cough himself.

"It's too much I need to breathe..." Paula cried gasping for breath

"Guys?!" Luke questioned worried gasping for air "what's going on?!" he cried looking at the group but he was unaffected by the fog. More and more red eyes became visible through the fog as the ship became pitch black.

* This may not seem like a lot but according to Bulbapedia a Lugia just exceeds 5 meters along with a few other Pokémon 5 meters is over 17" for those who don't like meters. Underneath it say Pokémon exceed 50 kg can't be released which is the equivalent of over 110.2 lbs.

_**I'm back from holiday! And I now hate midges I swear they are more annoying then Zubats! I got millions of bites when on holiday Thank god I've finished this chapter though… I think this one is probably going to be the longest out of the arc… Fun fact! Gyarados which is apparently taller than Lugia being over 6 meters. Snarl is a dark type move which Umbreon can learn Via TM. Oshawott can learn Dig, Double team and Retaliate via TM and Cut Via HM. Interestingly Zoura can learn all these moves too….**_

_**Another fun fact! All of Eric's Pokémon's names mean fire **_

_**Aiden is a variant spelling of English Aidan meaning "little fire." **_

_**Su is a Basque name meaning "fire."**_

_**The next chapter's the last in the SS Anne arc... look out for: Black Fog on the High Seas.**_


	37. Black Fog on the High Seas!

Disclaimer- I no own pkmn

Black fog on the High Seas!

**The first scene takes place about 5 or so minutes before the fog comes onboard the ship. Enjoy the story **

**Eric's POV**

"I'm getting fed up of running away!" Sparky complained "All we've done since we've gotten on this ship is run!"

"You're not exactly running I am!" I cried as I skidded around a corner narrowly avoiding a Flamethrower attack while clinging onto Sparky, Sparkette, Aiden and Bubbles.

"Stop in the name of the law!" The security guard cried as he and his Arcanine chased us.

"They actually shout that?" Sparkette questioned blinking. No one answered her as we continued running receiving strange looks from the other passengers.

"Oh no!" I cried in distress skidding to a halt. We had come to a dead end.

"Now I've got you!" The security guard cried victoriously.

"Bubbles… what do we do?" Sparkette questioned clinging onto Bubbles.

"AHEM. CAN EVERYBODY HEAR ME IS THIS THING ON? AH. JUDGING BY THE SOUND OF PEOPLE TRYING TO BREAK INTO THE ROOM I'LL ASSUME EVERYONE CAN HEAR ME THAT'S GOOD. I'D LIKE TO INFORM YOU THAT IN A FEW HOURS THE WHOLE SHIP WILL BE UNDER MY CONTROL AND WE'LL BE GOING ON A SLIGHT DETOUR TO THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN." An unfamiliar male voice who sounded bored announced over the speakers causing the six of us to look at each other in confusion.

"What is this?" The security guard questioned frowning. "Is this your fault?!" He accused pointing towards me.

"I had nothing to do with this!" I defended

"BUT DON'T WORRY. MOST OF YOU WILL BE JOINING OUR SIDE IN A FEW MINUTES REGARDLESS THOSE THAT DON'T… WELL LET'S JUST SAY IT'S NOT GOING TO BE A FUN TRIP FOR YOU. OH I FORGOT TO MENTION. YOU WON'T HAVE A CHOICE ABOUT JOINING OUR SIDE. UNLESS YOU HAVE A STRONG WILL YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO RESIST OUR CONTROL. EVEN IF YOU DO HAVE STRONG WILL BY THE END OF THIS TRIP YOU'RE GOING TO WISH YOU DON'T." The man said darkly as a strange black fog substance began to pour in through the vents. Aiden, Sparky, Sparkette, the guard and his Arcanine began coughing violently but for some reason I and Bubbles weren't affected. The Arcanine's and security guard's eyes began glowing red and I swallowed in fear.

"That can't be good." Bubbles stated shivering slightly in fear.

"Aiden? What's wrong?" I cried looking at my Vulpix whose eyes were also glowing red.

"Sparky! Sparkette!" Bubbles cried with horror seeing their eyes turning red. I placed Bubbles and co. on the floor and bit my lip with worry.

"Aiden whatever's happening to you, you need to fight it!" I said looking into Aiden's eyes.

"You guys to! You may be annoying and always getting into trouble but you guys are my best friends so snap out of it!" Bubbles cried with tears forming in her eyes as her friends stared blankly back at her. I hung my head in shame feeling depressed.

"Huh? Bubbles why are you crying?" A familiar voice said causing me to look up and grin to see Sparkette blinking at Bubbles, her eyes back to normal.

"Did anyone hurt you? I swear I'll beat them up if that's the case!" Sparky proclaimed frowning with his eyes also looking normal.

"You guys!" Bubbles cried happily pulling them into a hug.

"Bubbles… you're crushing us…" Sparky chocked out and Bubbles quickly let them go.

"Why are you hugging now?" A familiar voice said and I turned to see Aiden blinking at us making me grin.

"Good to have you back buddy." I said patting Aiden's head while grinning.

"I didn't go anywhere…" Aiden stated confused

"Hate… kill… destroy…" Two familiar voices said in unison and we noticed that the security guard and his Arcanine glaring at us their eyes still glowing red.

"They couldn't defeat that strange voice!" Sparkette cried causing me to blink.

"Voice? What voice?" I questioned them.

"I will… kill you!" The guard roared and his Arcanine growled interrupting us.

"Not today!" I cried "Go Kenneth!" I cried releasing a Slugma who moved slowly, somehow not melting the ship with his lava like body.

"You can't hurt them!" Bubbles cried obviously worried for the guard and his Pokémon's safety.

"I'll just create a distraction! Kenneth use Smog!"I ordered as my Pokémon unleashed a thick smog leaving me unable to see anything. "Now it's time to run again." I whispered as I picked Bubbles and co. up and the six of us snuck away.

**Luke's POV**

I panicked as a strange black fog substance began to pour in through the vents.

"What is this?" several people demanded at once and a few people ran out of the room only to back slowly in.

"It's everywhere!" the people cried as several of them began coughing.

"It's burning my lungs!" They cried

"Everyone hold your breath!" Billy demanded "Otherwise you'll turn into a mind controlled zombie!"

"We can't hold our breath forever!" Kane cried beginning to cough

"JUST DO IT!" Billy snapped causing everyone to take a lungful of air. The room filled up with fog and I couldn't see anything for a few minutes. Suddenly out of the darkness a pair of glowing eyes opened followed by hundreds of others.

"It's-no good-I can't-last…" Red said coughing violently in taking a lot of the fog.

"Red!" Billy cried releasing his breath before coughing

"Don't you start breathing!" Kane cried shaking Billy's shoulder's violently before beginning to cough himself.

"It's too much I need to breathe..." Paula cried gasping for breath. I looked at my friends in concern as one by one they had to breathe in this strange fog substance and I felt the burning desire to breathe myself. Finally, unable to last any longer I took in a deep gasp of air.

"Guys?!" I questioned worried while gasping for air "what's going on?!" I cried looking at the group but I was unaffected by the fog. More and more red eyes became visible through the fog as the ship became pitch black. "Guys?" I questioned nervously trying desperately to see anything.

"L-Luke…" Shadow croaked from besides me his eye pupils flickering between red and black.

"Shadow!" I cried with worry "This stuff affects you too?"

"T-there's a voice in my head!" Shadow cried in distress shaking his head desperately as his eyes turned completely red.

"Shadow?" I questioned nervously as the rest of the ship slowly became visible but the fog was still present. "Guys?" I questioned looking at my friend who were staring at me blankly their eyes glowing red like Shadow's.

"What's going on?"A familiar voice murmured sleepily sitting up from Billy hood while looking around the ship.

"Liz!" I cried gratefully. Her eyes weren't red either…

"Great. I fall asleep for ten minutes and the whole ship's been taken over." She muttered looking around

"Liz! What's going on? Why are everyone's eyes glowing? What is this stuff?" I cried gesturing to the fog surrounding us.

"I, Billy and Paula have encountered this stuff twice before… once in a lake in Cerulean and again in a day care nearby…" Liz revealed frowning

"In a lake?" I questioned astonished

"A story for another time." Liz said quickly. "We won't be affected by this stuff though… but normal humans and Pokémon are!"

"So what do we do?" I asked her in concern.

"Snap them out of it." Liz said grinning evilly

"Wait what are you-" I started as Liz released a powerful Thundershock attack engulfing all of our friends causing them to cry in pain. "-doing?" I finished stupidly.

"Liz what did you that for?!" Billy cried angrily as his eyes returned to blue causing me to grin.

"Well excuse me for saving your life... or your mind as the case may be." Liz muttered bitterly.

"Guys we have bigger problems than Liz attacking us…" Paula muttered biting her lip as her eyes returned to purple.

"The fog stuff! It's taken over the whole ship!" Red cried looking around.

"What on earth is it?" Shadow muttered sniffing the air.

"Why is everyone suddenly unaffected?" Liz pondered out loud "it's still everywhere…." She said looking around.

"You probably zapped everyone to their senses…" I muttered making sure no one heard me.

"Kill… humans… Pokémon…" a familiar voice hissed and we all turned.

"Kane?" Everyone questioned in unison seeing our friend's glowing red eyes.

"He's still affected by the fog!" Billy cried "Liz! Give him another zap!" Liz jumped up and zapped Kane with another Thundershock making him grunt in pain. Despite this, Kane still managed to stand tall with his eyes still glowing red instead of their normal green. "Again!" Billy roared causing Liz to frown at him.

"Billy stop!" Paula cried desperately grabbing and turning Billy towards herself while looking him in the eyes. "You could kill him if Liz keeps electrocuting him!"

"Would that really be such a loss?" Billy muttered harshly his eyes turning red again causing everyone to gasp. *SLAP*

"How could you say that?!" Paula demanded while Billy touched his cheek blinking his eyes once again returning to normal. "I know you hate the guy but you've known him since you were little! How can you be so insensitive about hurting him?"

"Paula…" Billy began his eyes filled with regret

"Save it." she muttered turning around and everyone else looked awkwardly at each other feeling out of place.

"ATTENTION THOSE ONBOARD THE SS ANNE 2!" the man who had taken over the ship with the fog said over the ship cried through the speakers. Everyone who was possessed by the fog turned in unison towards the speakers. "THIS IS YOUR NEW CAPTAIN QUESTION MARK SPEAKING."

"Question Mark?" Billy parroted confused.

"It's obviously a fake name." Liz said sighing

"MOST OF YOU WILL NOW BE UNDER MY CONTROL… ABOUT 95% FROM OUR ESTIMATES. I WANT MY NEW SLAVES TO START WORK IMMEDIATELY. THOSE WHO AREN'T POSSESSED SHOULD LISTEN UP AS WELL. I WANT THOSE WHO ARE POSSESSED TO FIND THOSE WHO AREN'T UNDER MY CONTROL AND… PUT THEM OUT OF ACTION." As soon as Question Mark said these words everyone in the room turned towards us.

"Uh-oh…." Red muttered

"LUCKILY FOR THOSE WHO AREN'T POSSESSED I DON'T WANT YOU KILLED…. JUST CAPTURED SO THAT I CAN TAKE YOU BACK TO OUR LAIR AND EXPERIMENTED ON." Question Mark said almost cheerfully.

"That makes me feel so much better…" Liz muttered frowning. "Luke... if we're experimented on they could find out…" She said her eyes filled with concern.

"It will be okay." I said loudly causing everyone to turn to me.

"Luke's right. We'll be able to stop this guy somehow." Red said in determination.

"And get Kane back to normal." Paula said looking at our friend

"And be back in time for tea." Liz added rolling her eyes

"ANYWAY I WANT ALL OF YOU WHO ARE UNDER MY CONTROL TO FIND THOSE WHO AREN'T UNDER MY CONTROL AND CAPTURE THEM. THEN TIE THEM UP AND PUT THEM IN THE CARGO HOLD FOR WHEN PHASE TWO OF MY MISSION IS COMPLETE. THOSE ARE YOUR INSTRUCTIONS." Question Mark said plainly.

"Go Pokémon!" Everyone in the room cried in unison sending out Pokémon of various shapes and sizes.

"Go everybody!" Billy cried in determination releasing all six of his Pokémon before yelping and narrowly avoiding a Psybeam attack before returning Kyra.

"You guys to!" Paula cried releasing Alice and Felicity.

"Don't miss the party!" I cried as Shadow leapt in front of me and I released Harry and Blaze.

"I need your assistance!" Red proclaimed releasing his Munchlax, Dewott, Grovyle and Quilava while the Dratini he befriended slid onto the deck as well.

"We may be slightly outnumbered…." Liz said looking at all of our opponents. All of a sudden the ship began creaking and groaning and began to tilt on one side.

"What's going on?" Billy questioned desperately trying to balance himself.

"The ship! It weighs too much! It's capsizing!" Red realised his eyes wide. Even the fog stuff began flowing to one side as we cried in fear.

"RETURN YOUR POKÉMON!" Question Mark ordered through the speakers hastily causing everyone who was possessed to return their Pokémon. Our group kept our Pokémon out just in case but I noticed some of their eyes beginning to turn red. The ship immediately returned to a level position after rocking violently a few times. "WELL…. THAT WAS AN UNEXPECTED RESULT… LISTEN UP MY NEW SLAVES! CAPTURE ANY ENEMIES WITHOUT USING YOUR POKÉMON OTHERWISE YOU'LL KILL US ALL!" He announced hastily

"I don't think he thought this through…" Liz said frowning.

"That's probably a good thing." Shadow said sighing with relief

"We still have to worry about the hundreds of people in this room…" I pointed out as everyone in the room started walking slowly towards us.

"Nicolas, Steve, Daniel, Laura and Liz! Find some way of restraining the mind controlled zombies!" Billy yelled panicking as his Pokémon looked at him in confusion.

"Because that's as clear as mud…" Liz muttered

"Okay then Liz use Thunder Wave to paralysis them! Steve use Quick attack to trip people up! Daniel knock the tripped people out with Bone Club! Laura and Nicolas stay by us encase they get any closer!" Billy ordered

"Got it!" Steve and Daniel said before running towards the people with Liz walking after them.

"Harry use Hypnosis to send them to sleep! Shadow use Confuse Ray!" I yelled and my Hoothoot fluttered away while Shadow chased after him

"What about me?" Blaze asked eagerly

"Blaze you just stand there!" I ordered causing Blaze to sulk.

"Dewott if the people get close to our group use Water gun! Grovyle use Leech seed so they can't move! Quilava, Munchlax and Dratini stay close!" Red yelled as his Grovyle ran after all of the other Pokémon.

"Felicity you stay close! Alice Water Gun anyone who gets close to us!" Paula commanded "Alice?" she questioned blinking.

"… You killed them…." Alice growled causing me to blink. She looked up at us her eyes bright red but they had tears coming from them. "…You all murdered them!"

"You've got to be kidding me! She's turned to the bad side too?" Billy cried angrily

"Well she is over one hundred years old who knows what she's seen in her life!" Paula defended before holding out Alice's Poké ball. "Return Alice!" she cried returning the possessed Pokémon.

"We just have fewer reinforcements now…" Red said looking at the Pokémon.

"Yer…" I said quietly thinking about what Alice said. Meanwhile, Liz ran through the crowds of people zapping all of them lightly, freezing some in their track and causing others to carry on moving just more slowly. Red's Grovyle planted seeds over the ones who continued moving causing plants to sprout instantly pinning the people to the deck. Harry swooped over everybody sending them to sleep instantly. Shadow sent out several Confuse ray attacks sending people walking into each other or falling over as if they were drunk. Steve tripped up the already dizzy people with Quick attack and Daniel was hitting everyone on the head making sure that they didn't get up again. Every so often the possessed people managed to reach us causing Red's Dewott to blast them back to the end of the ship with a Water Gun attack. When that didn't work our other Pokémon would knock them out with their various attacks making sure only to knock them out and not fatally injure anyone.

"This never seems to end!" Liz complained shocking another person zapping herself slightly out of tiredness.

"I don't think I can run anymore…" Steve panted

"We have to keep going!" Shadow yelled sending out a powerful confuse ray engulfing several people at once.

"More appear as soon as we've knocked them out!" Red's Grovyle complained as some of the people managed to escape from his Leech seed attack causing him to run after them.

"The Pokémon won't be able to last at this rate!" I warned

"I think we should retreat for now! Try and find others who might have been able to resist Question Mark's control!" Billy suggested as Nicolas slammed into a person who managed to get close to us.

"But what about human Liz?" Red questioned causing us all to freeze in our tracks.

"What about her?" Billy asked hesitantly

"Well she could be trapped somewhere with people trying to attack her… or under that man's…. Question Mark's control. Shouldn't we try to help her?" Red clarified

"I'm sure she'll be fine. She's surprisingly resourceful." I said panicking for a different reason.

"Yer I'm sure she can resist this stuff and we'll meet up with her if we can!" Paula piped up.

"If you guys are sure…" Red said hesitantly

"Then it's settled! EVERYBODY COMEBACK!" Billy yelled loudly.

"You heard Master Billy! Let us make our leave!" Nicolas yelled

"What does Nicolas mean?" Daniel questioned standing still while the other Pokémon started coming towards us occasionally still attacking people to escape

"It means let's run like-" Liz began

"Liz! Don't swear in front of Daniel!" Shadow scolded

"You sound like Alice." Liz muttered grabbing Daniel's hand and pulling him after her. Together we ran out of the room.

"Laura use Icicle Spear to block the entrance!" Billy yelled as his Shellder unleashed several large icicles blocking our exit. "That should hold them for a while." He said sighing with relief.

"We should keep moving!" Red yelled "it won't be long until the ice melts or until they can get enough fire types to melt it!"

"Red's right." I agreed. The four of us (with our various Pokémon following us) ran into the ship's corridors.

"Stop right there!" some people with glowing red eyes yelled.

"They're everywhere!" Paula yelled in distress.

"Munchlax use Screech!" Red cried and his Munchlax took in a huge intake of air before making a sound screeching noise making everyone cover their ears in pain and blowing the possessed people away. "Great job!" Red complimented making Munchlax smile.

"Let's keep going!" Billy shouted quickly. We headed down the corridor occasionally changing direction and attacking a few more possessed people. Suddenly we bumped into a boy who was also running. The boy had orange and red hair and was holding a strange looking Buneary, a spiky eared Pichu, a Pichu that looked like a Pikachu and a Vulpix.

"Who are you?" Everyone questioned at once.

"You're not possessed?" The boy realised standing up

"Of course we're not!" Billy cried "And neither are you by the looks of things…."

"Yer… I was being chased by everyone on board this ship…." The boy said looking nervously behind himself "Wait a minute… that guy has red eyes!"The boy shouted pointing at Red. "Aiden knock him out with Tackle attack!"

"Red's a friend!" I shouted to no avail as the Vulpix leapt towards Red.

"You're not hurting Red!" Red's Munchlax cried leaping towards the Vulpix and hitting it with a Focus punch attack sending the Vulpix back.

"That's the way you want to play? Fine! Aiden use Flamethrower!" the boy yelled as his Vulpix fired a powerful Flamethrower toward us.

"Munchlax use Swallow!" Red ordered as his Munchlax swallowed the Flamethrower attack. "I'm not one of the bad guys!" Red protested

"As if I'll believe that." The boy scoffed "I can't believe you guys were taken in by his act… he even has red eyes! Aiden use Flamethrower again!"

"STOP!" A feminine voice cried and all of a sudden everyone was electrocuted.

"Liz!" Billy cried in annoyance.

"It wasn't me that time!" Liz protested

"That's because it was us." Some voices said and I saw the Pichus and the Buneary glaring at us.

"Eric honestly! That boy wasn't even attacking us and you just went out and tried to fry him!" the Buneary scolded

"But- he's…" Eric began causing me to blink.

"Is he talking to that Buneary?" Red whispered

"…it looks like it…." Paula replied quietly

"We need to work together with these people and if that boy is one of them he'll probably reveal himself! Until then try not to barbeque him okay?!" The Buneary questioned causing Eric to nod slowly.

"Can you understand that Buneary?" Billy blurted out causing Eric to panic.

"O-of course not! I'm just very good at guessing what it's trying to say!" Eric defended.

"It's okay if you can…" Shadow began "you see…"

"Shush!" I hissed causing everyone to look at me while Eric frowned. I coughed awkwardly to cover the action. "For now we need to come up with some kind of strategy…" I said "without anyone being roasted…" I added quickly seeing how Eric glared at Red. Red frowned and looked away.

"I didn't ask for my eyes to look like this…" Red muttered bitterly.

"Shall we work together to come up with a plan or not?" Paula asked in annoyance.

"I'll work with you guys." Eric muttered somewhat annoyed

"As long as no one else decides it's a good idea to roast me then I'm okay for working together." Red said nodding

"Then it's settled." Billy said looking between the two boys.

"Agreed." Everyone else said in unison and we quickly started discussing our plan.

**Aurora's POV**

"Get in there!" a man cried angrily shoving another person into the massive cage. The possessed people were rounding up those who those who could resist and keeping them locked away so that they couldn't stop Question Mark's plans.

"Someone help us!" a woman with a small child in her arms cried

"Keep quiet!" A guard cried shoving the woman back. I sat in the corner of the room where the ship was controlled my hands and legs chained together while my brother Adolfo sat in a cage not too far away. I was the only one chained up so the other people kept their distance thinking I was dangerous. A man walked up to me with a nasty look in his eyes.

"Master Question Mark wants to know if you're still keeping up the illusion." He said bitterly

"Yes." I answered emotionlessly.

"You better not be lying to me girl. Question Mark wants me to remind you that he can still torture you and your brother." The guard growled before walking away as I looked at the floor in sadness.

"You're working for that Question Mark guy?" My fellow prisoner questioned me their voice full of anger. I said nothing and continued to stare at the ground.

"Don't worry Aurora we'll get through this." Adolfo reassured me making me smile softly.

**Liz's POV**

"Der still comein!" Laura cried as the possessed people tried to break through her ice wall.

"Lady Laura! Don't let up! Just keep using icicle spear to hold them back! Master Billy needs more time!" Nicolas encouraged. I sighed as I watched the group discuss plans of various degrees of intelligence. The stupidest plan so far was suggested by Billy involving jumping of the ship and edging along the side until we had reached the Question Mark guy. Unfortunately, while they were still in the middle of discussing these 'ingenious' plans some more of Question Mark's minions found us so Laura had to build a thick ice wall to hold them back. The Pichus that were with the boy ran up to me in curiosity.

"How about this!" Billy cried in excitement "We climb along the side of the ship and-"

"For the last time we are not climbing along the ship!" Paula cut in causing Billy to sulk.

"Hey! You're that strange Pichu we saw through the vents earlier!" the spiky eared Pichu cried in an excited feminine voice while pointing at me causing me to blink.

"Through the vents?" I questioned confused as the spiky eared Pichu looked at me while grinning.

"Wow Sparkette…" the Pichu that looked like a Pikachu said while sniffing me slightly, causing me to back off. "We seem to have all the luck finding strange Pokémon don't we?" he asked her grinning causing me to frown. Wait, how did I know he was a boy? Maybe it was a Pichu thing…

"Yep!" She said happily "I'm Sparkette and this is Sparky!" Sparkette said gesturing to herself and the shiny Pichu. "It's nice to meet you!" she said shoving her tail in my face.

"What?" I questioned and started backing away again causing the two Pichus to blink.

"That's how we greet each other…" Sparky said slowly causing me to blink. "Like this…" He said and the two Pichu shook tails and a few sparks came out. "See?" He questioned.

"Oh…" I said hesitantly "I've never met any other Pichus so I didn't know…"I explained causing the other two Pichus to gape.

"Don't tell me you were bred in captivity!" Sparkette cried in shock

"What are you talking about?" I questioned the strange Pichu.

"I've heard about those breeding centres…" Sparkette said looking at me while biting her lip. "You know they get two Pikachu whose fur is slightly browner then the rest and they force them to breed… then they have babies with slightly more brown colouring then black and get them to breed… each time getting a browner Pichu!" Sparkette cried

"There's only one problem with that theory Sparkette …" Sparky said sighing "Getting a shiny Pokémon is completely random so even if two slightly browner Pikachu breed it would be a very small chance that any brown Pichus would be born. Plus it's been shown that Pokémon that are forcibly bred or born using those methods die quicker so it's illegal."

"Just because it's illegal doesn't stop it from happening." Sparkette said folding her arms stubbornly.

"Right…." I said hesitantly backing off "Well I wasn't bred illegally."

"How do you know?" Sparkette pressed

"Well… because my parents Sarah and Andrew are perfect normal peo- I mean Pikachus..." I said quickly.

"Sarah and Andrew? Those are strange Pikachu names…" Sparky said frowning "My father was named Kachu and my mother was named Sparkette!" Sparky said proudly

"Sparkette?" I questioned "Isn't that your name?" I asked pointing to the spiky ear Pichu.

"Well yes…" Sparkette said sheepishly.

"So is she your sister or something?" I asked them curiously

"NO!" Sparky said a bit too quickly. I frowned at his strange behaviour. "It's a long story…" He said eventually.

"You'll have to tell me some time…" I said looking at them as they fidgeted. "Well I'm Liz…"

"Another strange Pichu name…" Sparky said looking at me frowning.

"You guys leave that poor Pichu alone." The Buneary cried bouncing up to us.

"Bubbles! She didn't even know how Pichus greet each other!" Sparkette cried in distress.

"Really? How do you guys greet each other?" Bubbles questioned them causing them to frown. "Sorry if these two are bothering you." She apologised.

"Yer you should probably stay away they'll infect you with back luck!" The Vulpix cried walking up to us.

"For the last time we're not unlucky!" Sparky cried and the two of them glared at each other.

"I'VE GOT IT!" Billy cried loudly distracting us.

"If you suggest anything else to do with climbing around the side of the boat I'll throw you in the sea." Paula threatened

"No it's a really good idea this time!" Billy insisted. "Eric remember when you mistook Red for being possessed?"

"How could you forget? It only happened about half an hour ago…" Red muttered bitterly

"We can use that to our advantage!" Billy proclaimed ignoring him. "Red you can pretend that you're possessed by the fog! Then you take us to Question Mark as your 'prisoners'! That way we won't get attacked along the way! When we reach Question Mark we'll break free of our 'capture' and defeat him!" Billy cried.

"Of all the stupid… suicidal… idiotic… things to suggest…." Paula ranted frowning "It's… its… brilliant." she admitted

"What?" Everyone questioned and everyone fell silent.

"Well there are lots things that could go wrong…." Eric said thinking "we'll probably have to return all of the Pokémon so we're left vulnerable… plus it looks a bit suspicious if one person can capture four people by himself. We might have to be tied up or something… other than that I don't see what can go wrong." Eric admitted slowly.

"Wait a minute… you haven't got our Poké balls and even if you did we wouldn't go in them!" Bubbles pointed out

"Good point…" Eric muttered softly.

"Can he understand you?" I questioned surprised causing Eric, the Buneary and the Pichus to look at each other.

"Of course he can't!" Bubbles said eventually "We just share a really strong bond! Haven't you heard of trainers who can understand their Pokémon after many years?"

"I have… but you just said he hasn't got your Poké balls… if you share that big of a bond he should have them." I said frowning.

"Erm… well… that's…" Sparkette began.

"I lost them!" Eric cried loudly causing me to blink.

"Lost what?" Billy, Paula and Red questioned confused.

"Bubbles, Sparky and Sparkette's Poké balls… I just realised it now but I must have dropped them or something…" He said sheepishly patting around his waist.

"Either he has scarily good timing… or he can defiantly understand you." I said folding my arms.

"It's the first option." Sparky said quickly.

"That's another good point…" Luke mused to himself "Shadow doesn't like his Poké ball and Liz doesn't like hers either…"

"Can't you bear with it for an hour or two?" Billy questioned me holding up my Poké ball.

"Don't you remember our conditions? No going in the sphere of death!" I cried hiding behind Shadow.

"You won't die." Luke scoffed causing everyone to look at him. Luke coughed awkwardly and looked at the ground.

"Can he understand you?" Bubbles questioned me suddenly.

"No… it's that thing you said earlier… you know strong bond and stuff…" I said quickly.

"But he isn't even your trainer…." Sparkette said quietly.

"Hey your 'trainer' 'dropped' your Poké balls! And how do you know Luke's not my trainer?!" I questioned

"Because you smell like the younger boy…. and you smell like a human girl as well…" Sparky said sniffing me

"Don't sniff me!" I cried in annoyance pushing him away while Bubbles frowned at me.

"So what are we going to do about the Pokémon then?" Eric questioned causing Sparkette to gasp loudly.

"We could rescue that girl!" Sparkette cried loudly

"What girl?" I and Shadow questioned in unison.

"You know! That girl! I'll bet you anything Question Mark was the one betting her up before! If we rescue her she might join our side!" Sparkette cried in excitement.

"You're not being very clear…" Shadow said tilting his head in confusion.

"Plus what if that girl is under Question Mark's control? Then it will be a pointless mission." Bubbles pointed out.

"Bubbles!" Sparkette cried in annoyance. "Grr… come here a sec!" Sparkette grabbed Bubbles and Sparky and ran about two meters away and the three of them began to whisper in a huddle.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Shadow questioned me

"Who knows…?" I said looking at them.

"The three of us have reached a decision!" Bubbles announced and the three of them turned towards Shadow and me.

"That was fast." I said surprised

"We have decided that the three of us… teamed up with you and Shadow… and with anyone else that may decide to join us… should go and try and rescue the girl we saw before… Aurora!" Bubbles announced

"Why the change of heart?" I asked

"Call it a change in circumstances." Sparky said looking at me with an odd look in his eyes.

"That's it!" Eric cried "Our Pokémon can go and rescue any others who can resist this fog then we'll have more reinforcements if necessary!"

"Your 'trainer' is super scary with his 'timing'…" I said narrowing my eyes at Bubbles and co.

"That's a brilliant idea!" Billy cried in amazement

"So we're doing an operation human take down QM? And a Pokémon operation free the people?" Paula questioned

"Basically… yes." Luke summarised

"Then let's plan the finer details before the possessed people break through Laura's barrier!" Billy cried

**Billy's POV**

We hid in a small closest while Red tied a rope around Paula. I was the only one left who hadn't been tied up.

"Stay safe you guys." I whispered as Liz, Sparky, Sparkette, Shadow and Aiden ran off to complete their mission.

"That should do it." Red said tightening the rope around Paula. "Billy I need to tie you up now."

"Red I think you tied this rope too tightly..." Luke said trying to fidget but failing.

"Sorry but it has to be convincing." Red apologized

"How are we going to break free when we need to?" Paula questioned looking at her ropes.

"I'll release my Grovyle and Dewott to cut the ropes when you guys need to be free." Red explained while tying a rope around me.

"Hurry it up would you?!" Eric whispered furiously "They might find us!"

"I'm doing it as fast as I can!" Red whispered back.

"Are we sure he's on our side?" Eric asked frowning "because if he's not we're basically just let him tie us up."

"For the last time I am on your side!" Red whispered back furiously while tightening the rope around my arms making me wince. "I've done now."

"I just hope this works…" Paula said nervously

"Come on let's go." Red said. Together we edged out of the closest nervously. Me, Paula, Luke and Eric could only shuffle as our legs were also tied together. "Question Mark should be where the ship's wheel is," Red muttered looking at the ship's map. "luckily according to this sign that's not too far away." The five of us walked slowly down the corridors.

"Where are you taking those prisoners?" a voice cried and we noticed Kane glaring at us his eyes still bright red.

"He always ruins everything." I muttered quietly

"I'm just taking them to Master Question Mark." Red answered emotionlessly.

"All prisoners go to the cargo hold." Kane replied frowning.

"These prisoners are very defiant. I'm taking them to Question Mark for punishment." Red said looking Kane in his eyes.

"Very well then." Kane said frowning. "I shall go with you. It may be difficult for you manage four prisoners by yourself." Red frowned slightly but nodded causing Kane to walk by his side. Paula looked at me with worry while I looked at the floor. It had only been five minutes and our plan was already going wrong! We carried on walking down the various corridors with the four of us who were tied up to share worried looks. Eventually, we reached the steering room and Red nervously opened the door.

"Who are you?" A tall blue haired man asked his eyes scanning over our group.

"Are you Master Question Mark?" Red asked making the man frown slightly.

"Indeed I am." Question Mark confirmed. "Why have you brought those children to this room? I asked them to be held in the cargo hold." Question Mark asked frowning.

"Apparently they were being defiant." Kane spoke up.

"They were, were they?" Question Mark asked frowning looking at us. "If they were causing you that much trouble you should have just tortured them or knocked them out. Not bother me while I'm busy." He said glancing at a mechanical console nearby.

"My apologies, Master." Red said, sounding very convincing. "I'll just take them back to the cargo hold..." He said looking at us. Question Mark sighed loudly and turned towards the console. Red's arm reached for one of his Poké balls slowly. Suddenly he was grabbed by Kane.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Kane hissed while Red tried to shake his arm off.

"Good work." Question Mark said without turning around. "Did you honestly think I would be so stupid?" He asked looking at us.

"At least we only have to tie up 1/5 of these intruders." Kane said grinning

"Hey Kane! What do you think you're doing I'm on your side!" Red protested still trying to shake Kane off.

"With that display of emotion you're defiantly not under my control." Question Mark said emotionlessly. "Who are these pests?"

"Billy, Paula, Luke and Red." Kane said pointing to each of us. "I don't know who this guy is though." He said pointing to Eric.

"They don't look like the sort of trainers who could afford a ticket to this ship." Question Mark commented "I'm surprised you have red eyes though… are they contacts or something? Not that it matters anyway…" he said looking Red in the eyes. "Ah. You're one of those aren't you?" he questioned raising his eyebrows.

"What are you talking about?" Red questioned frowning.

"Nothing. It's not really important anyway." Question Mark said turning away.

"What do you want?" I demanded and the man took a quick glance at the console behind him and sighed.

"What do I want?" Question Mark repeated my question slowly. "Well that should be obvious shouldn't it? I want to control everybody on board." He said shrugging but I noticed he still glanced at the console.

"But why? Why the ship? You could have controlled a lot more people if you had attacked a city! It doesn't make sense!" Red asked and Question Mark stole another glance at the console and sighed deeply.

"It makes perfect sense!" He cried "Think about it. Use that globby cabbage-like thing located in your skull and THINK." Question Mark said shaking his head. "Why attack the ship where everyone on board is going to be rich, influential, and have powerful or rare Pokémon?" Question Mark said in a sarcastic voice "I know!" He cried and his face became serious "Because of everything I just said." He said seriously.

"Master Question Mark you probably shouldn't reveal too much." Kane pointed out.

"Good point." Question Mark mused. "You!" He cried pointing at Kane. "Throw these kids in a jail where they won't escape from and you'll be rewarded when we dock again."

"SYSTEM OVERRIDE! SYSTEM OVERRIDE!" A mechanical voice cried and a nearby red light began to flash. The wheel of the ship began to move without anyone touching it.

"What's going on?" everyone (bar Kane) questioned in unison feeling the ship beginning to move.

"Oh finally!" Question Mark cried happily "Change of plan slave! Let these kids watch! It's time for my greatest hour!"

"As you wish." Kane said bowing slightly while keeping a firm grip on Red. I attempted to wrestle out of the rope to no avail.

"Question Mark what's going on?" Eric shouted.

"I may as well tell you... seeing as you all will be witnessing it anyway." Question Mark said grinning "The ship is now heading on a different course towards the part of the ocean where the currents are the most powerful all of Kanto. When we get in the middle I shall release the ship's very special load. Which just so happens to be the chemical that makes up the black fog-like substance. The currents will spread the chemical through the ocean ensuring most of the water Pokémon in Kanto and maybe some of Johto will be under my control." Question Mark said grinning as a Porygon and a Rotom came out of the console. "Took you long enough." Question Mark grunted at the Pokémon who both had red eyes. "Now all we have to do is wait." Question Mark said smiling.

"Oh forget this!" Luke cried angrily and he began glowing bright white.

"Luke?" Red questioned in surprise while Eric gaped. Luke began shrinking causing the ropes to drop around him. Eventually where Luke was there was a small black Eevee wearing a gold necklace. "He just turned into an Eevee!" Red cried in surprise.

"What?" Question Mark demanded staring at the small Pokémon.

"That's not a bad idea!" Eric cried grinning before he too began to glow.

"Eric?" I, Paula and Red questioned in unison.

"He can turn into a Pokémon to?" Paula questioned. Eric stopped glowing and in his place was a large Ninetails whose body was red and the tail tips were orange.

"The colours are the reverse of a normal Ninetails!" I realised suddenly.

"I am the only one freaking out about this?" Red questioned with wide eyes, looking very pale.

"You can turn into Pokémon?" Question Mark said with wide eyes. "Well that is interesting…. it explains that Chatot's message as well… I'm sure the Master will be most interested when I tell him… especially if I capture you!" Question Mark cried. Luke jumped up and bit through my ropes while Eric carefully burnt through Paula's and Luke's ropes.

"You'll have to go through all of us first!" I cried in determination.

"Five against one? Well if you're sure." Question Mark said grinning evilly.

**Bubbles' POV**

We snuck slowly about the ship stopping every five minutes or so to hide from the hundreds of possessed people.

"I can smell several people up ahead." Shadow said sniffing the air.

"Well that could be anything from prisoners to people who are possessed!" Aiden hissed angrily.

"Don't be too hard on him Shadow has the best sense of smell out of all of us!" I scolded him. "At least he's giving us an idea of what's ahead!"

"Bubbles we can go check it out." Sparky suggested "I mean me and Sparkette are the smallest Pokémon here therefore harder to spot."

"We're not splitting up again! It always seems to go badly when we do." I hissed.

"We're nearly at the cargo hold anyway." Shadow piped up.

"SOMEONE HELP US!" we heard a voice cry loudly.

"I think we have our answer of who it is." Liz said quietly

"QUIET PRISONER!" A different voice cried.

"Sounds like they have some kind of guard…" Sparkette whispered

"I have an idea!" Shadow cried suddenly running forwards.

"Shadow!" I cried as he dashed off.

"Don't worry he'll be fine." Liz said not looking worried at all.

"Hey! What's that Umbreon doing here?"

"Let's grab it!" There was a series of loud crashed and bangs causing me to wince. Finally there was silence and Shadow came running out of the room.

"All clear!" He said happily.

"What did you do?" Sparkette questioned astonished.

"Don't worry all I did was knock them out with a Confuse ray attack." Shadow said shrugging.

"Let's go then…" Aiden said a little apprehensively as we headed towards to cargo hold.

"Hey look that Umbreon's come back!" A prisoner shouted.

"And he's brought back up!" another voice shouted.

"WE'RE SAVED!" The prisoners cried in unison.

"So how are we going to release them?" Liz questioned out loud.

"You Pokémon come over here!" a familiar girl who was chained up beckoned us toward her.

"Aurora?" Sparky and Sparkette questioned in unison.

"Yes." The girl said in surprise "How did you know…?" She asked before shaking her head. "Now's not the time for that! The key for these cages are over there and all of the Poké balls are kept in that box!" She said pointing to each item.

"Got it!" Everyone cried in unison.

"I'll get the key!" Aiden proclaimed "Bubbles, Sparky, Sparkette and Liz you should probably release the Pokémon or pass them to their owners seeing as you guys have hands. Shadow could you keep watch?" Everyone nodded and Shadow ran up to the door. Aiden leapt up and grabbed the key with his mouth running to the cage door.

"Oh thank you! Thank you!" A prisoner cried happily grabbing the key off Aiden and started unlocking the cage. Meanwhile, I grabbed a few Pokémon balls and released them revealing a Larvitar, an Audino and a Dragonair. The Pokémon cried out happy to be released and ran up to their owners. I threw the Poké ball to the trainers that the Pokémon had ran to. Most of the prisoner returned their Pokémon immediately because of the limited space in the room but some kept their Pokémon out. Sparky, Sparkette and Liz repeated my actions and soon we had cleared the whole box and all the prisoners were free from the cage.

"I've never seen a Pokémon throw a Poké ball…" I heard several passengers mutter.

"Thanks you freed us." Aurora said walking up to us. "Hmm three electric types… that should do it…"

"What are you talking about? And how can you understand us?" Liz asked. "Don't tell me you can turn into a Pokémon…"

"You know about people like that!" I cried in surprise.

"You do as well?" Liz questioned me. "I thought it wasn't common knowledge!"

"What are you talking about?" Aurora questioned us. "I can't turn into a Pokémon… rather I AM a Pokémon."

"What?" Everyone questioned

"Aurora!" an unfamiliar voice cried and a Zoura ran up to the girl.

"I and my brother here are rare Pokémon from a region called Unova. We are Zoura the Illusion Pokémon that means we can create illusions. Why do you think no one else has questioned me about talking to you guys? They're all seeing an illusion right now." Aurora explained. "Listen up I need your help with two things they're very important!"

"What is it?" Sparkette questioned

"First I need all the electric types to do one powerful attack towards this collar." Aurora said gesturing to the black chocker around her neck. I noticed that there was a similar chocker around the Zoura. "This is a device Question Mark put on me and Adolfo to make us obey! Your combined electricity should be enough to break the collar!"

"Are you sure?" Liz questioned her with raised eyebrows "If we hit you could get seriously hurt… or worse."

"It's a risk we're willing to take." Adolfo said in determination.

"Don't you worry we'll bust that collar!" Sparky cried in determination. "Sparkette, Liz! Take my hands!"

"We'll defiantly free you guys." Sparkette said taking Sparky's hand. Liz hesitated slightly before taking his other hand.

"Three…" Sparky said and all three Pichus began sparking.

"Two!" Sparkette cried and the sparks increased dramatically. Aurora gulped nervously and held her brother's paw.

"One!" Sparky and Sparkette cried in unison. The three of them unleashed two powerful Thunderbolt attacks, hitting the collars right in the centre, sending Aurora and Adolfo flying backwards.

"Are you okay?!" I questioned them running forwards.

"So… dizzy…" Sparkette said tottering about "Let's not do that again…"

"Agreed." Liz said panting while sitting down. Aurora and Adolfo sat up looking fairly dizzy but relatively unharmed, their collars no more.

"Aurora…" Adolfo said quietly in a state of shock.

"I know…" Aurora said looking just as shocked.

"We're free!" They cried happily hugging each other.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" Aurora cried picking us all up and hugging us while spinning in circles.

"Don't hug me!" Liz cried unhappily, trying to struggle. After a few minutes of hugging Aurora finally calmed down enough to place us on the floor.

"So what's that other favour?" Aiden questioned causing Aurora to gasp.

"It's the black fog machine!" Aurora cried suddenly.

"The black fog machine?" All of us questioned in unison.

"Question Mark made me set up a machine when I was in the battle tournament! It a machine that produces this black fog throughout the ship!"

"I thought it was spread through the air vents…" Sparkette stated in confusion.

"Well mainly yes…" Aurora admitted "But the point which it was produced was this machine which I placed in the middle of the battle field! I need your help to destroy this machine! If it's destroyed the fog won't be everywhere and it will help people break out of Question Mark's control!"

"So it's like getting rid of a weed? You have to go for the roots?" Liz questioned frowning.

"Exactly!" Adolfo piped up.

"Guys!" Shadow cried running in. "We have company!"

"It's the red eye people!"

"They're going to capture us again!" the different passengers began muttering amongst themselves with worry.

"We can't have everyone breaking out into panic…" I said looking around "Aurora can't you say something?" Aurora nodded to herself and took a deep gasp of air.

"QUIET!" Aurora yelled loudly "they're defiantly going to capture us again if we just panic among ourselves!"

"She's right!" The passengers muttered

"We'll hold them off!" a passenger cried in determination holding up a Poké ball.

"And we'll make the random people who never have names in stories look good!" Another cried

"What are they talking about?" Liz questioned

"They've probably spent a bit too long in the cage if you know what I mean…"Aiden said

"What do you mean?" Sparkette questioned confused.

"Let's go then!" Aurora cried and everyone ran out the small room (with lots of pushing and shoving).

"So it's true you guys managed to escape." A man with glowing red eyes said staring at us. There was a large group of possessed people behind him. "Well I hope you enjoyed your two minutes of freedom because that's all your going to get!"

"Just try and put us back in that jail!" a passenger roared and several of them had Poké balls in their hands.

"Come on let's go while everyone's distracted…" Aurora whispered and the 8 of us crept away.

"Go Pokémon!" We heard the (non-possessed) passengers cry from down the corridor.

"Come on we have to disable Question Mark's machine!" Adolfo cried running ahead of us.

**Paula's POV**

"Do you want any help with these intruders?" Kane questioned.

"I think I'll be okay." Question Mark said keeping an eye on Luke and Eric.

"I'll battle first!" Billy cried in determination.

"Be my guest." Question Mark said grinning.

"Go Laura!" he cried releasing his Shellder.

"Rotom you're my choice." Question Mark said casually and his orange Pokémon came forwards.

"Laura use Icicle Spear!" Billy yelled in determination. Laura fired several large icicles towards the Rotom who quickly dodged them. "It's fast!" Billy cried in surprise.

"That's your best shot? Now let me show you mine! Rotom use Thunderbolt!" Question Mark yelled. Rotom fired a powerful Thunderbolt attacking hitting Laura directly causing her to cry out in pain.

"Laura!" Billy cried but she had already fainted "No way… we couldn't we scratch it..."

"He must have strength on par to an elite four member!" I cried in surprise.

"Well I'll just weaken you so that the others can knock you out!" Billy cried. "I'll use my fastest Pokémon let's do this thing Steve!" he cried releasing his Eevee. "Steve use Quick attack!" Steve dashed forwards in a white light. Steve attempted to slam into the Rotom but passed through it.

"Rotom is part ghost type…" Question Mark said sounding bored. "Rotom use Discharge!" Rotom unleashed a huge wave of electricity sending Steve flying backwards. Steve stood up on shaking legs.

"Steve use Bite! That should be super effective!" Billy cried as Steve ran forwards.

"Here Rotom!" Question Mark cried throwing Rotom an orange box. Rotom grinned and flew into the box, which looked like a fan. "Now use Air Slash!" The Rotom's fan began spinning producing a huge slash of air sending Steve flying backwards.

"Steve!" Billy cried in distress but the Eevee had fainted. "But I thought it was a ghost and electric type…" Billy muttered in confusion. "Nicolas, it's your turn!" he cried releasing his Nidorino.

"Rotom use this appliance!" Question Mark cried throwing Rotom a different orange box, which looked like an oven. "Now Overheat!"

"Impossible!" Billy cried "Nicolas dodge it!" Rotom fired a powerful heat blast toward Nicolas making all us. After the attack Nicolas collapsed in exhaustion. "No way!"

"I grow tired of this." Question Mark said frowning.

"This will be my last one!" Billy cried "I need your help Kyra!" he cried releasing his Kadabra who scowled at Billy.

"This one looks like it may have potential…" Question Mark mused. "But it will turn out the same way!" Kyra fired a powerful Psybeam straight towards Question Mark who casually dodged it. "It doesn't listen to you? It should really be on our side…" he remarked causing Kyra to glare furiously. "But there's no fog in this room so it's a shame I can't make it obey me…"

"Looks like Kyra's up for it!" Billy cried happily. "Kyra use Psycho cut!" Kyra ignored him and just stood in the same place.

"That Pokémon hates you even without the fog!" Question Mark remarked smirking.

"See this is why I'm against trainers catching Pokémon again their will." Red muttered.

"Rotom go back to your original form and use Shadow Ball!" Rotom floated out of the oven and fired a powerful Shadow ball knocking Kyra back causing her to growl. Kyra held up her spoon and closed her eyes.

"What's she doing?" I whispered to Red who shrugged. Suddenly Rotom was surrounded by a strong blue light lifting it up into the air. Rotom was sent flying into a nearby wall.

"One of your Pokémon actually damaged Rotom? Now I'm really impressed." Question Mark remarked. "Rotom it's still tired from your Shadow Ball use Discharge to finish it off!" Rotom frowned a fired an explosion of electricity straight towards Kyra who disappeared. The electricity just hit the ship wall.

"Kyra?" Billy questioned looking around.

"It must have teleported…" Question Mark said also looking around. "Rotom after it!" Rotom flew towards the wall but this time it passed through it looking for Kyra. Moments later, Kyra reappeared in the middle of the room looking exhausted.

"Kyra!" Billy cried in distress seeing his Pokémon collapse.

"That's Billy's strongest Pokémon…" I said in surprise. "And that Rotom made it faint…"

"But… where's Rotom?" Red asked looking around. Rotom came flying through the ceiling and collapsed on the floor.

"No way!" Question Mark cried in surprise "What did that Kadabra do?" he asked looking at Billy's Pokémon. "I might take that as well as those two." He mused pointing to Eric and Luke who growled at him.

"It's my turn!" I cried in determination.

"Wow. I'm so scared." Question Mark said sarcastically. "You're up Bronzor!" he cried releasing a small metal plate like Pokémon.

"Go Felicity!" I cried releasing my Growlithe. "Blast it with a Fire Spin!" Felicity unleashed a powerful spin attack completely engulfing the Bronzor.

"Wow that Pokémon's even weaker than his." Question Mark remarked pointing to Billy as his Bronzor floated there looking undamaged.

"Hey!" Billy cried.

"Bronzor use Psywave!" Question Mark ordered. Bronzor sent a purplish wave straight towards Felicity sending her flying and knocking her out.

"Well at least you hit it…" I remarked "and thanks for telling us there's no black fog here! Let's get going Alice!" I cried releasing my Wartortle who looked around, obviously confused, before focusing on the Bronzor.

"Pathetic." Question Mark commented. "Bronzor use Gyro Ball!"

"Counter with Water Pulse!" I ordered. Bronzor started spinning and glowing silver and headed toward Alice. Alice formed a blue water sphere between her hands and fired it at the Bronzor making it stop for a few seconds before continuing its attack and hitting Alice. "Alice use Aqua Tail!" Alice recovered from the hit and slammed the Bronzor with her tail.

"Bronzor use Payback!" Question Mark cried. Bronzor began glowing black and fired this black energy towards Alice. Alice was knocked backwards and fainted.

"I'm out of Pokémon already…" I said sadly returning Alice.

"My turn!" Red cried in determination running forwards.

"Finally, the last trainer I have to battle." Question Mark said rolling his eyes.

"Master Question Mark we have a problem!" A woman cried running in.

"What is it?" Question Mark demanded.

"The prisoners escaped!"

"What?! Impossible!" Question Mark cried while I grinned at all my friends.

"Alright they did it!" Billy whispered.

"ERROR! ERROR! THE BLACK FOG MACHINE HAS BEEN SERIOUSLY DAMAGED!" The machine cried

"Oh that's just fantastic!" Question Mark cried angrily.

"OUTPUT OF BLACK FOG CHEMICAL TERMINATING!" the machine cried as the man and Kane began clutching their heads in pain.

"Ug… what happened?" Kane questioned his eyes turning back to green before fainting.

"W-where am I?" the woman questioned looking around before fainting due to exhaustion.

"I'll take out the last of you and regain control of this ship!" Question Mark proclaimed

"Now Daniel knock him out!" Billy yelled as his small Cubone leapt from a nearby bookcase and slammed Question Mark with his club knocking him out.

"Chu chu pi!"

"Bun eary bun!"

"Umbreon!"

"Vulpix!"

"Hey wait for me you guys!" several voices cried at once and all of a sudden three Pichus, a Buneary, a Vulpix, a Umbreon, a girl and a Zoura ran into the room. Luke began to glow again turning back to his normal human form.

"Shadow you're okay!" He cried happily hugging his Umbreon.

"You're not a Zoura too are you?" The girl questioned surprised.

"Buneary bun!" The Buneary cried in surprise and it began to glow.

"What?" Everyone in the room questioned at once. The Buneary began to grow larger and larger until in its place was a girl with brown hair wearing a T-shirt with a light blue heart and a blue jacket with a pink a lime green heart wears blue jean shorts that stopped at her knees.

"It's nice to change back!" She said stretching and the Pikachu Pichu and the spiky eared Pichu jumped onto her shoulders.

"Everyone's either turning into Pokémon or turning back from Pokémon!" Red cried in confusion.

"You can turn into a Pokémon?" Luke questioned surprised while ignoring Red. "Eric you should change back! Liz you to!"

"Liz?" Red and the Buneary turned girl questioned in unison as both Pokémon began to glow.

"We're finally all together!" Eric cried happily. "But I can believe you guys could turn into Pokémon as well!" he said looking at Luke and Liz.

"Do we have to make a song and dance about it?" Liz questioned but she was smiling.

"Liz you're a human and Billy Pokémon?" Red questioned blinking.

"Yer... well it's a long story…" She said sheepishly "But what shall we do about these guys?" She said gesturing to Kane and Question Mark. "I'm guessing they saw you change? Because you defiantly weren't an Eevee or a Ninetails when we left!"

"The woman didn't see Luke and Eric change… and Kane seems to have lost his memory of when he was possessed." I pointed out "But Question Mark definitely saw and he might wake up soon!" I cried hearing Question Mark moan.

"I have an idea!" Luke cried suddenly "Shadow use Confuse Ray!" Luke cried as Shadow engulfed Question Mark with a powerful confuse ray. "There… that should make him forget about us turning into Pokémon."

"Are you going to make me forget too?" Red questioned hanging his head slightly.

"Erm…." Everyone looked at each other unsure.

"We can do some kind of vote..." I suggested

"Great idea!" Billy cried "Okay all those in favour of Red remembering raise your hand!" Billy put his own hand up and it was followed by my hand, Luke's hand, Liz's hand, Shadow's Paw, Bubbles' hand, Sparky and Sparkette's paws and Aurora's hand followed quickly by Adolfo's paw.

"Am I allowed to vote?" I heard Aurora whisper causing Liz to shrug.

"All against?" Billy offered causing Eric to raise his hand followed by Aiden's paw. "Red you get to keep your memory!"

"Brilliant!" Red cried happily.

"Ug… what's going on?" Question Mark muttered standing up holding his head.

"There he is that's the guy who took over the ship!" Some voices cried causing Question Mark to panic.

"Damn it… the people are breaking out of my control… someone must have broke the machine that releases the chemical!" Question Mark muttered to himself "I'll retreat for now!" He announced "But know this! We will win in the end! And there's nothing you can do to stop us!" He cried before spinning on his heel and disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Wow…" Liz muttered "I want to shout cheesy things at people and disappear in puffs of smoke… is it too late to join the bad guys?"

"YES!" Everyone cried in unison.

"Honestly Liz how could you even consider joining them?" Billy shouted

"Alright! Alright! I was only joking!" She defended

"What are you kids doing in here?" A man questioned with a group of people behind him.

"Erm… we were just..." everybody began at once.

"Get out of here! Seriously we've gone through enough trouble today!" the man cried and we were more than happy to comply. After a few hours the ship had calmed down considerably. Kane recovered and like I predicted he couldn't remember anything about the time when he'd been possessed. However, the passengers were very upset with the captain for allowing the ship to be taken over and demanded to go back to port before anything else happened. So our 'vacation' on the SS Anne 2 was cut short as we were dropped off back in Vermillion city.

"So… now what do we do?" Aurora questioned.

"I think I'll be travelling around a bit by myself… I've had more than enough excitement with you guys for a while..." Red said "I'll probably look for this Dratini's home..." He said holding the Poké ball containing Dratini.

"I need to go to Cerulean city for a gym badge..." Eric mused. "So I'll be leaving you as well…"

"You battle?!" Billy cried in surprise.

"Of course!" Eric said grinning.

"I want go as well..." Kane piped up. "I mean I'll be heading for Celadon City as well but I want an opportunity to go at my own pace." Kane explained making Billy look like Christmas had came early.

"That's fine with me!" He said happily making Kane look a bit down.

"What about you guys?" Liz asked Aurora and Bubbles.

"Being with you guys seems like fun!" Bubbles cried in excitement "I think I'll stick with you!"

"I just want to explore this region… without being kidnapped." Aurora mused "Okay I'll stick with you as well then!"

"Then it's settled!" Billy said happily. "We'll be heading for Celadon City for my fourth gym badge!"

"I look forward to seeing you again." Red said grinning shaking each of our hands. "And remember don't catch anymore Pokémon." He growled to Billy.

"I can't wait until our next battle!" Kane cried eagerly making Billy nod.

"See you again!" Eric cried and the three of them walked away into the distance. We waved until we couldn't see them anymore.

"Let's go then!"

_**Ss Anne arc is finally complete! Kenneth (Eric's third Pokémon a Slugma) means born of fire which I thought was very fitting.**_ _**Munchlax weighs 231.5lbs which is 105.0kg so it's little wonder it got disqualified from the tournament… I haven't really got anything else to say… please review this arc took a lot of work!**_


	38. Sparks and Bubbles

Disclaimer- Warning disclaimer is ahead. Proceed with caution. Pokémon is not mine.

Sparks and Bubbles

**Billy's POV**

"Lizzy!" I whined clutching my stomach. "Is lunch ready yet?"

"Not since the last five minutes you asked." Liz replied irritably stirring the pan.

"What's cooking?" Aurora asked sniffing the air.

"Pasta." Liz replied

"Pasta again?" Paula complained.

"Well it was either going to be pasta or soup seeing as those are the only things I know how to cook." Liz said staring at the pan.

"Well its better than when Billy cooks I suppose…" Paula admitted

"Hey I made scrambled eggs last time I cooked!" I cried in protest.

"More like the black eggs of death…" Liz muttered "The thought of those 'eggs' still makes me feel sick." Liz said shuddering.

"Amazing!" Luke cried happily taking pictures of Sparky and Sparkette who huddled together in fear.

"Chu pi chu!" They cried unhappily jumping onto Bubbles shoulders.

"What did they say?" I asked curiously

"Luke's making them uncomfortable." Bubbles translated.

"How did you manage to catch such rare Pichus?" Luke questioned curiously

"It's a long story…" Bubbles said sheepishly. "And besides I didn't catch them, they're travelling with me."

"It will be a long time until this pasta's finished." Liz said sighing "You may as well tell us it's not like we've got anything better to do…"

"I want to know as well!" Aurora piped up and Adolfo yipped in agreement.

"Well…" Bubbles began "We didn't all met at the same time… first Sparky met Sparkette… and that's probably the best place to begin…"

**Flashback- No one's POV**

A Pikachu raced through the forest gasping for breath. The Pikachu looked like every other Pikachu but you tell by the straightness of his tale that he was a male. The Pikachu slammed into a Raichu.

"Kachu!" The Raichu shouted angrily "What's the rush?"

"My child is hatching today!" The rushed Pikachu blurted out

"Oh sorry for keeping you waiting Kachu hurry home to your wife!" The Raichu apologised causing the Pikachu to dash off again. He ran inside a hole underneath a large tree.

"Am I too late?!" He questioned covered in sweat to the female Pikachu who merely smiled at him and held up a large egg causing the male Pikachu to sigh with relief.

"Don't worry Kachu." The female Pikachu said rubbing her tail along his back causing a few sparks to form and Kachu to purr. "Our little one was patiently waiting for its father." She said smiling and the two of them looked at the egg which shook violently causing both of them to gasp. "I think it's time!" The female exclaimed as Kachu pulled a bush over the den entrance so that they wouldn't be attacked while their son or daughter was hatching. Kachu put his tail around his wife and their egg keeping them close to him. A large crack appeared in the egg causing the parents to look at each other in excitement as the egg began glowing. Eventually the glowing stopped causing the Pikachu parents to gasp again. "It's a boy…." The female said eventually as Kachu nodded numbly unable to keep his eyes off his newly born son. For the Pichu sleeping in their laps looked exactly like a Pikachu, red cheeks and all. Neither of them had ever seen a Pichu like him.

"We'll name him Sparky." Kachu blurted eventually causing his mate to blink at him. "Because his fur sparkles and shines unlike anything I've seen." He explained causing the female to smile.

"Sparky…" The female said out loud as if she was trying the name before smiling again. "I like it." She said hugging Kachu and their new son Sparky with her tail. The Pichu opened his eyes, saw his parents and smiled before falling asleep again. And in that moment everything seemed perfect for the new family. But good things don't last forever…

"The Ekans! The Ekans are attacking!" a voice from outside cried in fear.

"Not again!" Kachu cried irritably "This is the third time this month!"

"Go." The female Pikachu said solemnly.

"But I can't leave you and the baby…" Kachu said looking at his mate and child before looking at the entrance of the den.

"You're part of the predator guard… they'll need you." The female said hugging Kachu with her tail. "Just come back safe wont you?"

"Of course!" Kachu proclaimed his cheeks sparking. "I'll be back soon… I promise." He said as the two Pikachus tails knocked into each other causing a few sparks to fall to the floor waking the baby up. "I'll protect you!" Kachu proclaimed running out of the den.

"Daddy! Wait for me!" Sparky cried running after his father thinking that they were playing some kind of game.

"Sparky! Come back!" the female cried also running out of the den. Sparky was encountered by a giant Ekans making him whimper in fear. The Ekans hissed dangerously as Sparky backed off slightly.

"Sparky!" Kachu cried in distress noticing the danger his son was in but he was already too far away to help.

"Sparky watch out!" the female cried pushing her son out the way as the Ekans lunged towards her.

"SPARKETTE!"

**A few years later…**

**Sparky's POV**

"Freak!" Crackle, an older Pichu than me, yelled as he pushed me into the mud.

"I'm not a freak!" I protested standing up swiping the mud off me.

"Well do you see any other Pichus around here that look like you?" Crackle questioned smugly "No! That makes you different!"

"And what exactly is wrong with being different?" a deep voice called making Crackle flinch.

"…Dad…" Crackle said sheepishly.

"Honestly…" Crackle's dad, Zap sighed deeply. "I've told you time and again to leave Sparky alone!" the Pikachu said picking up the Pichu. "We're going to have a long talk with your mother." Zap carried Crackle away, but that didn't stop Crackle pulling a face at Sparky.

"Sparky there you are!" Kachu said happily running up to his son. "Why are you covered in mud?" He questioned.

"It's just that jerk Crackle…" I muttered bitterly.

"Him again?" Kachu said sighing while running a hand through his fur. "Come on... let's go home…" Kachu said lifting me onto his back.

"Dad?" I questioned "Why don't I look like the other Pichus?"

"I don't know…" Kachu admitted slowly and I buried my head into his back. "But… I wouldn't change you for the world… and you should be proud of who you are." We got to the den and I curled up in the leaves. "Sorry… Sparky but…" Kachu began

"You have to go on patrol again?" I finished for him. "Don't worry dad I understand. We can't let anyone else's family get eaten…"

"Sorry Sparky…" Kachu repeated patting my head before running out of the den. I looked at the mud on my body and sighed before sneaking out of the den. I ran to nearby lake and began washing myself in the cool and refreshing water. I sighed as I began to cry in pity.

"Please…." I sobbed as my tear drops joined the lake I looked up and begged the stars "I want a friend… someone who will stick by me… and won't bully me…." I frowned feeling very angry "Is that too much to ask?!" I demanded but the stars didn't answer me. "Hey listen to me!" I shouted at the sky "All I ever wanted was a friend! But you guys are too busy granting everyone else's wishes!" I yelled and sighed feeling stupid. "Look at me… "I said staring into the lake "Shouting at the sky actually expecting it to grant my wish…" I sighed again "Stupid bright yellow fur..." I muttered "stupid bright red cheeks…" I said splashing myself with the water "Why won't you fade?!" I said scrubbing myself with the water "Why can't I look like everyone else?" I said sitting down feeling sad and frustrated. Suddenly there was a large green flash reflected in the lake. "Huh? What was that?!" I questioned turning around.

"WAAHHHHHHH!" Something cried and the next thing I knew I was slammed in the head sending me and the mystery object into the lake. Luckily, this part of the lake was quite shallow enabling me to sit up without drowning.

"Ouch… ouch… ouch…" I muttered rubbing my head

"Ouch that hurt…" The mystery thing sat up also rubbing its head. I stared at it feeling nervous until the moon broke through the clouds shining light on the lake. The object was revealed to be another Pichu, but she was girl and despite looking relatively normal her left ear had giant spikes on it that I had not seen on any other Pichu.

"Umm…." We said in unison gawking at each other.

"Where am I?" The Pichu eventually questioned looking around.

"Ilex forest." I answered staring at her. "Who… or what are you?"

"I'm…." The Pichu began before frowning "Erm… I'm…. well… I'm a Pichu and… erm…"

"You can't just be a Pichu! I mean you just fell out of the sky!" I said astonished while the female Pichu looked at me with a strange expression.

"… I can't remember…." The Pichu said in a small voice "There was something… I was running from something... and there was a shrine… then a green flash and lots of different places, people and Pokémon appeared but it was like they were in a river or something… always disappearing and reappearing… next thing I knew I fell into one of the scenes and I crashed into you… I can't remember anything else…"

"I saw a green flash as well!" I realised "Just before you appeared!"

"What happened to my ear?!" She shrieked suddenly causing me to flinch.

"You mean it wasn't always like that?!" I questioned in surprise.

"Well... I don't think so…" She said frowning attempting to smooth the spikes down but they just popped up again. "I can't remember... I just assumed my ear was meant to look like yours… that is another point why am I paler than you while you look cool?"

"I look cool?!" I questioned surprised

"Well yer." The Pichu stated as if it was obvious. "You're so much more sparkly and shiny than me!" She said grinning

"No one's ever said that before…" I muttered surprise looking at my reflection and grinning "You're a strange one you know." I said grinning at the female Pichu.

"Strange? Why? All I did was tell the truth…" she said blinking in confusion causing me to burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" She questioned running up to me.

"Nothing." I said smiling at her. "What's your name?"

"Erm… hmm… I can't remember..." The female Pichu said sounding upset

"Don't worry about it… I'll give you a new name! How about Notch?!" I questioned causing her to pull a face in disgust.

"What's your name?" She questioned

"Erm... I'm Sparky…" I stuttered surprise

"That's cool! It suits you! I want a cool name like yours!" She admired

"Then… how about Sparkette?" I questioned making her blink "It was my mother's name."

"But I can't take your mother's name..." She said fidgeting but I could tell she liked the name.

"She won't mind…" I said feeling depressed until the female Pichu to take my hands.

"Then I'll be Sparkette." She said smiling looking into my eyes. "Is okay if we become friends Sparky?" She questioned "You're the only one I know here…"

"Of course it is! You and me we'll become an unstoppable team!" I said pulling her out of the lake.

"Right!" Sparkette agreed

"One day we'll find out where you came from. I promise." I said putting my hand on my heart

"Well then until that time I'll have to stick with you." Sparkette said grinning. "Come on!" She said running off happily. I grinned and turned to the stars.

"Thanks." I said quietly before running after Sparkette.

**Present day**

"That's adorable!" Paula squealed.

"You didn't answer my question though…" Luke sulked

"I'm working up to it!" Bubbles cried in protest. "Just after Sparky and Sparkette met. I was eight years old and was living with my family to Goldenrod city but I hadn't been bitten by that Gold Buneary yet…"

**Flashback**

**Bubbles' POV**

"Hey Soapy!" I heard a voice cry from outside my house.

"How many times do I have to say my name is Bubbles?!" I cried angrily sticking my head out the window to see my friend Kim grinning at me.

"You're too easy to wind up!" Kim said giggling "Come on Bubbles I've got a great idea for a game!"

"Coming!" I cried running out of the house. "Where are we going?" I questioned my friend.

"You'll see." She replied mischievously as the two of us ran through the streets of Goldenrod.

"Master thief strikes again!" A newspaper salesman called at us as we ran by.

"Have you got any spare change?" A hobo begged as we walked through one of the streets.

**Present day**

"Was it really necessary to include those random people in the story?" Liz questioned in boredom while stirring the pasta.

"Well probably not…" I admitted sheepishly "But I'm trying to set the scene here!"

"Maybe you should just skip to the important bit…" Aurora suggested

"Try not to interrupt me though…" I said pouting.

**Flashback continued…**

We ran by not paying much attention to these people until we had reached the city's borders.

"Here we are!" Kim cried happily

"Kim… this is just the entrance into Ilex forest… nothing particularly interesting…" I said looking at the vast forest.

"No it is interesting!" Kim insisted "We can explore the forest!"

"Kim… have you gone mad?! There are wild Pokémon in there! Neither of us have a Pokémon of our own!" I cried trying to shout some sense into my friend.

"Well if you're scared…." Kim teased raising her eyebrows.

"Of course I'm scared!" I shouted.

"Fine…" Kim pouted in annoyance. "If you're going to be such a baby about it…" She said turning her back to the forest. "I guess…" she hung her head sadly "You'll have to catch me!" She cried suddenly turning around and sprinting into the forest.

"Kim! Come back!" I cried sprinting after her into the dark trees. "Kim?" I questioned looking around the forest.

"Come on Soapy!" She cried peering out from behind a tree that was some distance away. "I bet you can't catch me!" she cried running away again.

"Kim!" I cried in annoyance sprinting after her. "Kim?"

"Over here!" Kim cried giggling. I looked around the forest but I couldn't see her anywhere. "Here silly!" she cried again as her voice faded away.

"Kim?" I questioned again walking slowly forwards. I looked around and noticed I was surrounded by trees with no indication of where I was or where I had been. "Great now I've lost my friend and I'm lost in a forest…" I muttered bitterly, walking around aimlessly.

"CHU PI PICHU!" A voice cried loudly making me turn.

"What was that?" I questioned myself.

"CHUUUUUU!" the voice cried again in obvious pain and fear.

"I've got to help!" I decided running towards the voice. Eventually, I came to a fast flowing river. A Pichu with a spiky left ear was desperate trying to reach a shiny Pichu which looked a Pikachu who had somehow been caught in the river. The spiky eared Pichu was holding a tree branch much bigger than itself which the shiny was desperately clinging onto. But it was obviously the Pichu with the spiky ear didn't have enough strength as the Pokémon was being dragged slowly towards the river. "I'll help you guys!" I yelled causing both the Pichus to look at me in fear.

"CHU PI!" the spiky eared one cried, somehow managing to fire an electric shock at my feet as a warning despite its struggles.

"I'm not going to hurt you!" I promised walking towards them slowly. I picked up the spiky eared Pichu and it let out a powerful electric blast making me grit my teeth. I pulled the Pichu into the air. As the spiky one had hold of a branch which the Pikachu one was holding, this pulled them both out of the river with ease.

"Chu…" the two Pichus said sighing with relief while looking at each other.

"Pichu Pichu!" the spiky eared Pichu said looking at me.

"Pi chu pi!" The Pichu who looked like a Pichu said smiling slightly. Then without warning both of them leapt at me licking my face.

"Hey cut that out it tickles!" I said giggling as the Pichus licked me.

"Bubbles! Kim! Where are you?" a feminine voice cried.

"Mom!" I cried in realisation.

"Bubbles! There you are!" My mother cried pulling me into a hug. "Haven't I warned you time and again about going into Ilex forest?!" She warned

"I know mum… but I was following Kim… but we got separated… then I rescued these two Pichus…" I explained

"What Pichus?" My mum questioned looking around. I looked behind me and noticed the two Pichus I had rescued were gone. They were probably scared off by all the people…

"Anyway Bubbles…. I'll get you home… You and I are going to have a serious talking to young lady!" my mother scolded. "The others will stay here and look for Kim…" She said dragging me away. I looked behind me and noticed the two Pichus I had saved earlier staring at me through the tree leaves as my mother dragged me away…

**Present day**

"So that's how you guys met…" Luke said in amazement "these guys were really lucky you saved them and in return you got two really rare Pichus…"

"Well it took a lot more trips to the forest before we became friends though…" I said laughing.

"What about that girl you went in the forest with?" Paula questioned me "you know Kim?"

"When we reunited… we weren't exactly friends anymore…" I said sadly

"What happened?" Aurora and Adolfo questioned in unison.

**Flashback**

"Liar!" Kim shouted at me. "As if you met two Pichus that rare!

"I did!" I protested "You're just jealous because you got attacked by that swarm of Beedrill!"

"You didn't even want to go in the forest though!" Kim protested angrily. "So why do you get to meet the two rare Pokémon while I end up with a million and one Beedrill stings?!"

"So you do believe me!" I cried victoriously.

"I saw you with those Pichus…" Kim reluctantly admitted. "It's not fair!" she cried angrily. "You always get the best of everything in life!"

"I can't believe I ever thought you were my friend…" I whispered venomously before walking away.

**Present day**

"Not one of my finer moments…" I said cringing at the memory. "I still feel ashamed for treating her like that… I mean if it wasn't for her I would have never met Sparky and Sparkette…"

"Well she sort of deserved it if you ask me…" Billy said folding his arms

"Trust me the guilt of losing my friend still haunts me to this day…" I said sadly. "But I suppose falling out with Kim just brought Sparky, Sparkette and I closer together…"

**Flashback**

I sat in the shade of Ilex forest tired out from playing with the spiky eared Pichu and the Pikachu coloured Pichu all day.

"I wish I knew your names…" I said sighing causing the Pichus to look at me. "It feels weird to call you both Pichu…"

"Chu Pichu!" Pikachu-Pichu cried in determination.

"What?" I questioned in confusion "You want me to guess your name?" I guessed making the Pichu nod.

"Okay are you a… boy?" I guessed making the Pichu nod eagerly. "Okay then… is your name Buzz?" I guessed causing the Pichu to shake his head and pull a face. "I can't guess without a clue!" I cried in protest. The Pikachu-Pichu frowned and his cheeks began sparking and crackling with electricity. "Hmm.. is your name Crackle?"

"Chu!" Pikachu-Pichu cried in annoyance shaking his head rapidly while the Pichu with the spiky ear started laughing.

"Okay!" I cried in panic. "Is your name Sparky?" I guessed causing the Pikachu-Pichu to nod happily. "Really?" I questioned in disbelief.

"Pi chu chu!" Spiky eared Pichu cried eagerly waving its hand in the air.

"You want me to guess your name now?" I asked causing the Pichu to nod. "Are you a boy as well?"

"Pi chu." She said shaking her head rapidly.

"A girl then…" I mused to myself. "Can I have a clue?" I asked causing the spiky eared Pichu to point towards Sparky. "A name like Sparky….? But for a girl… I've got it! Sparkette!" I cried causing Sparkette to nod happily. "Really? That was easy…" I said quietly to myself while both the Pichus jumped happily into my arms and hugged me.

**Present day**

"We played together for many years forming a stronger bond every day. Eventually, I could understand them even without being cursed by the gold Buneary. Sadly those fun times we had in the forest couldn't last forever…" I said sadly. "And the second part of my story started with two words…"

**Flashback**

"We're moving?!" I cried in shock.

"I told you she'd be surprised!" My mother said happily hugging my father.

"We're going to be moving to this beautiful little town called Windswept Valley." My father said beaming.

**Present day**

"What?" Luke and Liz questioned loudly in unison interrupting me.

"What?" I questioned confused

"We both come from there!" Luke exclaimed in surprise.

"Really?" Aurora questioned in surprise "it really is a small world…"

"Please don't tell me you were bitten by that gold Buneary there…" Liz begged as the pasta was bubbling violently behind her.

"Liz! The pasta!" Paula cried in surprise pulling the pan off the fire.

"Whoops…" Liz said sheepishly.

"Am I going to get the chance to finish my story?" I questioned in annoyance.

"Sorry…" everyone said in unison.

**Flashback**

"But we can't move!" I cried in despair thinking of Sparky and Sparkette. My mum and dad frowned in annoyance.

"Bubbles." My dad said in a disapproving voice "I've already brought a house there and haven't you always hated the busy atmosphere of Goldenrod? What's the sudden change?"

"I just don't want to leave my friends…" I said in a small voice.

"I didn't know you were still friends with that Kim girl." My mum said in surprise.

"Not her… other… people…" I said slowly not wanting to tell my mum and dad about the rare Pichus I had befriended.

"Well… you better say your goodbyes then." My father said sternly. "Like I said I've already brought the house so we're moving whether you like it or not." He said. Tear formed in my eyes and I sobbed violently before running out of the house. Within minutes I was in Ilex forest but still crying. "Sparky!" I cried wiping my running nose. "Sparkette!"

"Chupi?" I heard familiar voices question.

"Guys." I said sighing with relief holding out my arms. The Pichus looked at each other obviously worried about me about leaping into my arms. "Oh guys…" I sobbed stroking their heads. "I won't be able to see you anymore…"

"Pi?!" They questioned looking at me and then at each other.

"I'm moving to some place called Windswept valley…" I said hugging the two of them close to me. "I don't even know where that is!"

"Chu…" the two of them whimpered sadly.

"Bubbles?" I heard my mum and dad calling for me. "Where are you?"

"I'm sorry guys… I have to go…" I said hugging them again. "I'll probably never see you again…" I said blinking back tears. "Goodbye." I said sobbing waving to my friends. The two Pichus looked after me with tears forming in their eyes. I noticed the two of them look at each other before I turned away.

**Present day**

"That's so sad..." Aurora said in depression.

"What's sad is the state of our pasta…" Billy said sighing looking over Liz's shoulder.

"Hey I liked to you try better!" Liz stated in annoyance. "Actually no I wouldn't…" She said shuddering.

"Why is Aurora the only one touched by our parting?" I questioned annoyance.

"It's pretty obvious that you met them again." Luke stated bluntly. "Otherwise they wouldn't be here now."

"Well it was sad at the time!" I cried in annoyance "Anyway we moved to Windswept valley the day after I said goodbye to Sparky and Sparkette…"

**Flashback**

"This will be our new home." My father said as we pulled up to one of the houses.

"I heard a girl about your age lives next door! You can make a new friend Bubbles!" my mother proclaimed happily.

"Before we have to move again…" I muttered bitterly. Dad parked the trunk and all three of us got out into the cold breeze. "It's freezing here!" I complained shivering

"Well they don't call it _Windswept_ valley for nothing deary." My mother said cheerfully.

"Bubbles why don't you introduce yourself to the neighbour while your mother and I unpack the trunk?" dad suggested causing me to shrug.

"It's not like I've got anything better to do…" I muttered bitterly walking over to the nearby house. "Hello?" I cried knocking on the door. "Anyone home?" I looked inside the house and noticed it was pitch black indicating no one was home. "That's weird… I thought mum said a person lives here…"

"Hey girly!" A voice cried making me turn. "You looking for Elizabeth Payne?!"

**Present day**

"What?!" Liz chocked "You were the person moving in next door!"

"You're Elizabeth Payne?!" I questioned astonished

"I prefer Liz or Lizzy but yes…" Liz said reluctantly.

"Wow… it really is a small world…" Aurora said in amazement

"The story's nearly over now!" I said sighing "Try not to interrupt me before the end again…"

**Flashback**

"Is that who lives here?" I questioned the man.

"Well yes but she recently left on adventure with some kid… she probably won't be back for awhile." The man said casually.

**Present day**

"Nice to know that they're so concerned." Liz muttered bitterly.

"Liz! Stop interrupting the story!" I cried in annoyance.

**Flashback**

"Well thanks anyway…" I said causing the man to walk away.

"Did you hear about that brown Pichu that ran though town a few days ago?!" An excited child questioned his friends.

"As if there's any such thing as a brown Pichu!" His friend scoffed.

"It would be really rare if it did exist though!" Another child cried and the group walked away.

"A rare Pichu…" I muttered to myself and sighed miserably thinking about my friends. I didn't feel like being here any longer and walked slowly back to my 'home'.

"Bubbles your room is upstairs on the left!" My mother called to me. I didn't reply and walked slowly up the stairs. I sat on the bed by a big book mark 'Bubbles'.

"Sparky… Sparkette… I miss you so much…" I cried to myself as I opened the big box next to me. Suddenly two familiar Pichus leapt out of the box jumping on me making me crash onto the floor.

"Chupi!" They cried happily snuggling against me.

"Sparky! Sparkette! What are you doing here?!" I questioned in astonishment.

"Bubbles!" My father called from downstairs. "What's going on up there?"

"Nothing!" I called quickly "I'm just going back outside for a few minutes!" I said grabbing the Pichus and dashing outside. I ran into the nearby forest before stopping to a halt.

"I'm so glad you're here!" I said happily hugging them.

"Chu!" They cried happily.

"I don't know what I'd do without you two." I said keeping them close to me.

"Pi!" they cried in surprise pointing behind me.

"What is it?" I questioned confused, while turning around. I gasped loudly standing in front of us was a purely golden Buneary. It was standing there looking at us before it grinned and waved. "No way…"

"Pichu…" the Pichus in my arms gasped in amazement.

"Bun… Buneary…" It said bouncing slightly closer.

"Wow…" I said crouching down to look it in the eyes. Surprisingly its eyes were bright blue despite the rest of it being gold. The Buneary grinned again and pounced forwards suddenly biting me on the hand.

"Hey!" I cried in pain pulling my hand away. The Buneary leapt away before we could react and I examined my hand. It seemed to be fine other than being bright red from the bite. "Well that was weird… let's go home before anything else bites me..." I said slowly still looking at my hand.

"Okay Bubbles!" Sparkette cried happily.

"Huh?" I questioned in confusion looking at her.

"Pi pichu!" Sparkette cried again.

"Right…" I said hesitantly shaking my head. I was feeling very dizzy.

"You okay Bubbles?" Sparky questioned looking at me. I held a hand to my head.

"Just a bit dizzy…" I replied not realising that I had just understood Sparky. "I think I need a lie down…" I said as the world faded to black.

**Present day**

"The next day I woke up with Buneary ears and a tail to match. It didn't really help that I could understand every word Sparky and Sparkette were saying…" I said chuckling at the memory. "We began our journey the next day and now we're here." I said gesturing to our surroundings.

"Wow that was some story…" Aurora said in amazement.

"Sparky! Sparkette! Please let me take your pictures!" Luke begged chasing after my friends with his camera.

"Here's your pasta…" Liz said in boredom dishing out some pasta to Billy and Paula.

"Are you sure this is safe to eat?" Paula questioned prodding the pasta with her fork.

"I think I rather eat the eggs I made…" Billy said frowning.

"I wouldn't." Liz, Luke and Paula said in unison.

"Hey! After all that effort you guys weren't even listening to my story!" I shouted loudly at my friends making them flinch with fear.

"I was listening!" Aurora cried in protest running away to safety. I glared at my remaining friends making them swallow in fear.

"Every man for himself!" Billy cried running away. The rest of my friends weren't far behind and I ran after them in annoyance.

"Come back here!"

_**Haha writing the chapters isn't stressful… well sometimes... when they're really long like the SS Anne arc was... sometimes I think I'm under more stress when I'm not writing them because then I think about writing them a lot. This chapter was quiet mellow though so I wasn't too stress about it the more exciting chapters (or the more excited I am about the chapter) generally bother me more… all Pichu/ Pikachu names are names I've given Pichus/Pikachus in the games with the expectation of Liz and Sparkette (I have used the name Sparky before but I didn't name the Pikachu-Pichu that)… **_

_**Originally this chapter was going to be named 'pop goes the Bubbles' and before I decided to put Bubbles on the ship was going to be the chapter where the group met Bubbles. I changed the title though because I thought it didn't really fit the chapter anymore.**_

_**If you like the character Iris from the anime/ games/ manga(?) then you'll love this story! It's called**_ '_**The Girl Who Knows the Hearts of Dragons' by gotpika. There's only one chapter so far but I think it's brilliant. If you want check it out and review now!**_

_**Next update will probably be slow because now I'm back to that dreaded place which is so evil I shudder at the thought of it… school (shudders) Next chapter will be more flash backs horary! Then after that the group will actually go on some kind of wacky adventure…**_


	39. Aurora's illusions

**Happy First Birthday Shocks and Static! **

Disclaimer- after a year of doing this I still don't own Pokémon!

Aurora's Illusions

**Luke's POV**

"I'm so tired…" Paula complained as we walked along route 7.

"Paula we can't keep stopping!" Billy yelled "We have to get to Celadon city!"

"Billy what's wrong with travelling slowly?" Bubbles questioned sighing. "I'm beginning to feel like my blisters are getting blisters…"

"No kidding…" Liz said sighing from Billy's hood. "I swear sometimes it feels like we've been walking for a whole year…"

"You can't complain!" I argued "You've been lying in Billy's hood for most of today!"

"Still tired…" Liz muttered rolling over.

"Luke I'm tired as well…" Shadow complained from besides me.

"Billy… everyone's tired..." I said sighing "let's take a little break…"

"No way!" Billy cried in protest. "We'll only stop when it becomes impossible to continue!" As soon as he spoke these words the sky became covered in dark clouds and we got drenched with rain.

"You just had to tempt fate didn't you?" Liz cried in annoyance covering herself with Billy's hood.

"We have to find shelter!" Aurora cried looking oddly unconcerned about the fact we were getting soaked. "We passed a cave not too long ago!"

"What are we waiting for then?!" I cried and all of us sprinted towards the cave. We all walked in and sat down feeling very relieved to have a break.

"We're sort of lucky this storm broke out…" Sparky said grinning "Now we can have a well deserved break!"

"Yes… lucky…" Adolfo said mischievously while grinning.

"Is this an illusion?" Sparkette guessed

"Who knows…?" Adolfo said shrugging.

"You do!" Sparkette argued.

"It doesn't look like this storm's going to pass for a while…." Paula said, oblivious to the Pokémon's conversations, while looking outside.

"Why don't we do something to pass time?" I suggested looking at the ground "That way we won't be bored…"

"Aurora…" Bubbles began slowly "do you think you can tell us how you got captured by Question Mark?" Bubbles questioned nervously causing Aurora to pale. Outside the cave was a violent flash of lighting and the rain increased. "It's okay if you don't want to!" Bubbles said quickly.

"No…" Aurora said slowly "I probably need to get it off my chest anyway… and you guys are my friends… you have a right to know…"

"Aurora…" Adolfo said nuzzling against Aurora's leg "You don't have to tell them…"

"But I want to." Aurora said with some of the colour going back into her face. She picked her brother and held him close. "Our story started in the Unova region. I and Adolfo were living with my father and mother in Driftveil forest…"

**Flashback**

**Aurora's POV**

"Watch this!" My brother called confidently leaping into the air and spinning a few times before in his place was a Venipede.

"Venipede? Is that the best you can do? Watch this!" I cried leaping into the air while activating my illusion ability. I spun around in the air a few times thinking of what I wanted to look like before landing on the ground. I was now standing on two legs wearing some strange fur humans called clothes. I also looked like a human only with white hair and red eyes. Not many humans had these features but I could tell by my brother's gaping mouth that he was impressed.

"You can transform into a human?" My brother said gaping in shock. "I've been practicing for ages to be able to do that!" Suddenly, the bushes nearby began rustling causing the two of us to look at each other with worry. I quickly cancelled the illusion ability so that I would have more energy to fight, if needed. Our worst fears were confirmed when a female human burst through the undergrowth holding one of those red and white spheres. "Aurora!" Adolfo called.

"Don't worry I've got this! You take care of the battle I'll take care of the illusions!" out of the two of us Adolfo was at a higher level but I had better control of my illusion ability. The human threw the sphere onto the ground and a Pidgeotto appeared, flapping its powerful wings. I concentrated on my illusion ability. It was easy to perform simple illusions on myself to make me look like a different Pokémon but it was a lot more difficult covering the surrounding area. Eventually I made it look like there was only one Zoura (Adolfo), the trainer and her Pidgeotto.

"Alright a Zoura what a rare find! This should be easy! The trainer called arrogantly. Adolfo and I grinned in unison at the trainer's arrogance."Flappers knock that Zoura out with steel wing!" she called and the Pidgeotto sped towards Adolfo with its wings glowing silver. I activated my illusion ability again as Adolfo jumped into the air as the Pidgeotto flew under him just missing its attack. Adolfo grinned arrogantly and fired a Shadow ball and I used my illusion ability to make the attack look several time larger than it really was. The attack collided with the Pidgeotto knocking it to the ground and I used my illusion ability to make the Pidgeotto look like it had fainted when in reality it could have continued battling. "No way!" the trainer cried in surprise before returning her fainted Pokémon (this confused the Pidgeotto greatly as in reality it was fine). "Then in that case..." she said reaching for another one of the spheres. I smirked and activated my illusion ability again and Adolfo began glowing a bright white light. "Huh? It's evolving?" the trainer remarked in surprise. "That's great! A Zorark is a much better Pokémon than a Zoura!" the trainer cried happily causing me to smile softly.

Adolfo grew and soon reached the height of a normal Zoroark but he was still growing. He surpassed the trainer in height making her gape and kept growing until he was as tall as the trees. For added effect I made it look like he was knocking over trees and making the many Pidoves fly away in fear as he grew. In reality Adolfo was standing in the same place (not evolving) and the forest was fine. We sniggered as we looked at the trainer gaping at nothing. The trainer continued to gape at the illusion so I decided to make Adolfo look like he had stopped evolving. Adolfo now looked like a massive Zoroark which towered far above the tree tops of Driftveil forest (well to the trainer). Adolfo roared fiercely making the trainer jump in fright and collapse with fright.

"I think we might have overdone it..." Adolfo said sheepishly sniffing the trainer's boot.

"Adolfo! Don't tell me you didn't realise!" I giggled causing Adolfo to look at me in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" he asked in confusion.

"Ma! You can stop now I know it's you!" I giggled as the trainer sat up and sighed.

"I guess I can't fool you..." she sighed as she leapt in the air spinning until in her place was a familiar Zoroark.

"What!" Adolfo gasped in surprise "Ma don't surprise us like that! I was convinced that trainer was the real thing!"

"You need to be more observant Adolfo." Our mom said laughing causing Adolfo to frown and me to snigger. "I don't know why you're sniggering at young lady!" My mum scolded me causing me to flinch. "There were a few moments when I could see right through the illusion that was meant to be hiding you! You two need to be prepared! One day a real trainer might walk through these woods! And unless you actually decide to go with the trainer you're going to be captured against your will!" my mom shouted.

"Who would willing go with a trainer?" Adolfo muttered softly causing my mum to glare at him.

"Some trainers are very respectable people Adolfo!" my mother scolded "One day you might want to go on a journey with a trainer!"

"Yer that will happen when poachers stop attacking the forest..." Adolfo muttered rolling his eyes.

"The point is," My mum said sternly "you need to be prepared if you don't want to get captured that means Adolfo you need to learn how to support your own illusion ability and Aurora you need to work on your battle abilities! Though it wouldn't do any harm working on your illusion abilities either..." she mused as the two of us stayed silent while staring at the ground. "Come on let's go back to the den." She said sighing as she scurried away on all fours with me and Adolfo running after her. We ran until we reached a small cave were my mother lied down and we curled up against her.

"Where's da?" Adolfo asked sniffing the air and his stomach growled loudly. "I'm hungry..."

"He should be back soon..." Our mom said looking outside. "I hope he had better luck hunting then I did..." my mother sniffed the air with her ears twitching."I can smell him he should be here soon..." as soon as she said this our father appeared with a dead Deerling in his mouth.

**Present day**

"Eww! I don't want to hear about eating a dead Pokémon!" Paula cried in disgust putting her hands over her ears.

"Paula... it's a fact of nature that Pokémon eat other Pokémon..." Liz said sighing.

"Just be glad that I can also eat berries." I said looking at the young girl.

"What do you think is in Felicity's food?" Luke said bluntly.

"Ahhh! Felicity eats Pokémon?!" Paula cried in fear while growing increasing pale.

"Well… actually it's not real Pokémon… just creatures like Pokémon… that can't use moves…" Luke stuttered trying to cover up his mistake.

"I think we might have ruined Paula's innocence…" Liz said sheepishly.

"Just don't tell her what's in the burgers…" Billy whispered but unfortunately Paula heard.

"I'm becoming a vegetarian." Paula swore looking very pale.

"Moving on..." I said sheepishly

**Flashback**

"That was really good..." Adolfo said licking his lips. "I feel like I couldn't eat anything else!"

"Does that mean I don't have to go hunting tomorrow?" Dad joked

"Da don't say that!" Adolfo complained causing dad to burst out laughing.

"I was only joking!" dad cried laughing. "How was the illusion training?"

"These two have really improved." My mother answered for us. "They make quite the tag team!"

"Well done you two." he said grinning causing Adolfo and I to grin. "but illusion masters in training need a good night's sleep if they want to improve!"

"But I'm not tired..." I said yawning.

"Aurora listen to your father." My mother said sternly "Doing that illusion earlier must have taken a lot of energy out of you." She said softly. "Come here you two." She said pulling Adolfo and I close to her. I relaxed in the scent of my mum and closed my eyes before falling asleep.

**Later that night...**

I woke up feeling fairly cold and I noticed that my mum was missing. I looked around with worry noticing Adolfo snoring next to me. I glanced around the cave before noticing my mum sitting next to my dad at the entrance of the cave.

"Aurora's illusion ability is really strong." my mum said sighing. "She can actually manipulate the surrounding area! I thought only Zoroarks could do that! She could see right through my illusion as well!"

"It's a sign she's growing up. They both are." My father said solemnly. "One day the two of them will leave this den and we might never see them again..."

"I know..." My mother said solemnly before sighing loudly.

"What is it Maya?" my father asked looking at her. "I know you didn't want to talk to me just because Aurora's illusion ability is better than most others..."

"I found some again... some traps and nets..." She said showing my father the remains of a net in her paw. "They're getting closer to the den every day I don't know how much longer we can stay here for..."

"But where can we go Maya?" My dad asked nuzzling into her.

"We can sneak onto one of the delivery trucks that go from Driftveil to one of those other cities... maybe even another region! Please consider it Dorte..."

"I don't know..." dad said hesitantly. "We'll sleep on it..."

"Okay then..." my mum said nuzzling against him. "Good night Dorte..." she said and the two of them fell asleep.

**Morning...**

"Aurora! Adolfo! Come and play!" a familiar voice cried causing me to wake up slowly. My mum and dad had left the den probably to go hunting.

"What's going on?" Adolfo questioned sleepily. I looked at the entrance of the den and grinned in happiness.

"Suzie!" I cried happily running up to my Oshawott friend.

"What Suzie's here?" Adolfo cried rolling onto his stomach before running out of the cave.

"Hi Aurora!" She said grinning. "Hi Adolfo..." she said bit more shyly blushing slightly.

"Good to see you Suzie!" I said happily. "Look what I've been practising on!" I said leaping into the air and spinning around a few times before in my place was an Oshawott.

"Show off..." Adolfo muttered bitterly but Suzie was smiling happily.

"Wow it looks just like me!" She said examining me from every angle. "I feel like there's actually another Oshawott in this forest now!"

"If you think that's impressive watch this!" Adolfo said shoving me to the side. "Are you watching?" He questioned making Suzie nod quickly. Adolfo grinned and leapt into the air spinning a few times. Adolfo landed on the ground making my and Suzie's mouths drop open. "I know." Adolfo said smugly. "I look awesome."

"Awesome isn't quite the word I'd use to describe you right now..." I said gaping. Adolfo was meant to be a Samurott (I think...) but instead of the normal blue colouring he was multicoloured all over his body. The Samurott horn was on his back instead of his head and the fin that was meant to be at the back was on his head. The whiskers (which were meant to be on his head) started from his stomach and surrounded his front legs hiding the swords on his legs from view.

"What happened?" Adolfo yelped in surprised realising what he had transformed into before leaping into the air and turning back into a Zorua.

"You're funny Adolfo!" Suzie said while giggling causing Adolfo to blush slightly.

"I do what I can..." he said in embarrassment.

"KIDS GET OUT HERE!" my dad screamed bursting through the forest.

"Dad? What's going on?" Adolfo and I questioned in unison.

"They're coming... human poachers!" My dad gasped "We have to get out of here now!"

"But where are we going?" Adolfo questioned

"What about ma?" I asked concerned.

"We're going to Driftveil city and your mother's holding them off but she probably won't be able to last much longer... Suzie you better get out of here as well who knows what they'll do if they find an Oshawott as well..."

"Good luck you guys." Suzie said running off into the forest.

"Come on kids we need to go." My father said quickly picking us both up by the scruff of the neck.

"The male Zoroark went this way!" We heard one of the poachers cry in the distance. Dad dashed off much faster than I had seen him run in the past. We ran through the many trees until we reached a busy city. Dad activated his illusion ability so that he looked like a middle aged man with dark red eyes and long white/ grey hair tied up in a pony tail wearing a T-shirt and jeans. I knew any humans we passed wouldn't be able to see Adolfo and me. My dad ran through the city and snuck behind a warehouse where a delivery truck was waiting with the back open. My dad threw us into the truck and looked around the city before howling. He heard my mother's answering howl making him smile softly and dive into the truck with us regaining his original form. A woman who looked exactly like the 'trainer' Adolfo and I fought yesterday appeared making us all perk up. We knew that it was our mother but she was still far away.

"Come on Maya you're almost there!" My father called holding out his paw. I heard the sound of an engine being started and the three of us looked at each other with worry. To make matters worse our mom was being chased by people dressed in black with strange visors on their heads.*

"Mum hurry up!" I cried as the van began slowly pulling away. My mum changed back into her Zoroark form and began bounding after the truck on all fours.

"We can't let them get away!" One poacher cried running after mum.

"Go into extermination mode! We can still get a good price for their fur!" Another cried.

"Mum you've almost made it!" Adolfo called in excitement.

"Just take my paw and we'll be far away in an instant!" My father called happily almost hanging out of the van trying to reach her. The poachers fired at us and just missed my father's head. My mother leapt up but just missed my father's paw.

"The van's speeding up!" I warned as we began to speed up. My mother roared in frustration and had a last sprint of speed catching up to the truck.

"She's going to make it!" Adolfo cried happily. My mother leapt again reaching for my father's paw. BANG! Our mouths open in shock as my mother's eyes widened and she hit the ground several times.

"MAYA!" My father roared in distress.

"We've got the female!" The poachers cried happily running up to my bleeding mother as the van sped away. My mother whimpered sadly at us before collapsing to the ground with blood pouring from her body and her eyes glazing over.

"MAYAAAA!" My father roared again in distress and anger. "I'll kill them!" he declared angrily, crouching his legs preparing to jump off the van.

"Dad no!" Adolfo and I cried in unison holding him back.

"The last thing we need right now is to lose another parent!" Adolfo cried angrily. The van was now so far away we could no longer see her.

"Maya..." My father whimpered sadly collapsing the ground with tears pouring from his eyes.

"Mum..." Adolfo and I said in unison our eyes also filling with tears. Together the three of us cried for hours in the dark and lonely truck.

**Present day...**

"Aurora..." Bubbles began "I'm so sorry for making you remember those things..." I quickly realised that tears were streaming down my face and I wiped them away.

"I warn you now... it doesn't get much better..." I said sadly. "The three of us stayed on that truck for a few days... luckily it had lots of food and water so we managed to get by... eventually the truck boarded a ferry to the Kanto where we thought we might be able to make a fresh start..."

**Flashback...**

"There it is..." I said noticing a large patch of land that was rapidly approaching. I was in human form so that I could walk around the ship freely while Adolfo sat on my shoulder. "The kanto region."

"We'll make a fresh start there." Adolfo said with a determined gaze. "Our lives will get better. I promise."

"Only a fool makes promises while knowing nothing about what lies ahead." My father said bitterly. He was in his human form as well but he now had dark circles under his eyes and looked underweight. The two of us were silent thinking about what to say to him. Ever since our mum's death it was as if there was a rift between us driving us apart. We were upset as well but we knew survival had priority over grieving. Besides our mom had been preparing encase she or dad were ever killed or captured so for now we were running on autopilot.

"We have now arrived at Vermillion city please ensure you have all belongings before disembarking." A voice over the speakers said casually. The three of us left in silence stepping into the busy city.

"So now where do we go?" Adolfo questioned loudly.

"Viridian forest." My father answered quietly surprising us both. "There are plenty of berries to eat... not much in the way of meat but I suppose we'll get by on Caterpies and Metapods... plus it's similar to where we used to live so it shouldn't be hard settling in."

**Present day**

"So we left on our journey to find a new home..." I said before sighing as lighting flashed outside again. My friends looked at me with sad faces silently encouraging me. "We didn't get very far though before _they _found us."

**Flashback**

We walked through the forest in silence with my father leading the way. For all of our sakes I was pretending to be Adolfo's trainer while our dad was posing as a teenager that was travelling with us. It was a lot easier travelling as a human than it was travelling as three Pokémon.

"Are you Dorte De Zorro-Ark?" A man with combed red hair wearing a white suit called out to us.

"I am." Dad called confidently "Do you have any business with me?" The man grinned.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Snake." The man said casually causing my father to raise his eyebrows.

"Snake? An unusual name..." he stated with a slight frown.

"About as unusual as yours... Mr. Zorro-Ark..." the man said grinning. "But Snake is merely an identity I've adopted for my purposes."

"I suppose you could say the same for my name..." My father said slowly. "But you didn't answer my question...how do you know my name and what do you want with me?"

"I wanted to know... if you would consider joining my company." Snake said grinning approaching my father slowly. "I know what you are..." he whispered into my father's ear."And what they did to your mate..." He hissed making my father's eyes widen. "Come with me I'll make sure all your enemies are destroyed in an inferno of fire and blood." Snake whispered before backing off slightly. "Of course this is a limit time offer and the children can join as well..." Snake hissed "You have ten minutes. Think carefully."

"Dad?" I questioned nervously. I really didn't like the look of that man.

"Aurora..." Dad said with an unreadable look in his eyes.

"Dad you can't listen to him!" Adolfo hissed making dad flinch and the warmth returned to his eyes.

"I know... that man he smells like a predator..." My dad said glancing at Snake. "I want you two to run. Run as far away as you can and then keep running. Don't look back."

"W-why?" Adolfo questioned nervously.

"We're surrounded." My father whispered. "I've tried activating an illusion but it seems no one can see it... they must have found some way of blocking it. When I refuse Snake will probably send his minions to attack us. I'll become captured on purpose to give you more time but I want you two to get away..."

"But you can't!" I hissed. "We can't lose you as well!"

"Stay strong, stick together and take care of yourselves." Dad said looking at the two of us before turning around and facing Snake. "Snake. I'm grateful for the offer but I have to decline."

"I see..." Snake said frowning slightly. "KILL HIM!"

"NO!" I screamed in surprise as bullets plunged into my dad from all directions.

"Now!" Snake shouted into a radio and a cage appeared out of the ground trapping both me and Adolfo. "Now I was hoping to get a Zoroark on my side but I guess two Zoruas will have to do... I hope you'll be more compliant then your dad." Snake said laughing as he stood in my father's blood. "Take these two to the fog room and get them under our control! We might need them for future missions... and somebody get rid of the body!" Adolfo and I looked at the body of our father for the last time noticing that he had turned back into a Zoroark meaning all of his energy was gone.

**Present day...**

"But no matter what Snake did Adolfo and I wouldn't submit to his control to his rage. So he fitted us with those shock collars to make sure we obeyed... then I met you guys and we broke free." I said blinking my tears back.

"It's okay if you want to cry…" Bubbles said slowly putting her arm around my shoulders as I sobbed into her.

"Wow... you've really been though a lot..." Billy said gasping.

"Obviously!" Paula hissed hitting Billy's arm making Billy glare at her.

"Guys don't start arguing now!" Liz whispered furiously making them both look ashamed.

"Let's hold a funeral!" Luke said suddenly causing everyone to look at him. "I mean you haven't had the chance to mourn yet so why not say goodbye to your parents..." Luke said trailing off.

"I'd like that..." I said softly. I sat in the cave with my friends while rain poured down outside. None us said anything as we were all lost in our thoughts. I smiled softly and stopped my illusion ability slightly making the rain stop and the sun to peek through the clouds slightly. Maybe this time it would be a real fresh start...

**Meanwhile elsewhere...**

**No one's POV**

"What do you mean you failed?" Snake roared angrily making Question Mark flinch slightly.

"I can't remember who or how... but somehow... someone managed to release the ship's control of the Black fog's control. That made almost everyone break out of my control... I had to abandon the ship otherwise I would have been captured." Question Mark explained calmly.

"So it was a complete and utter failure? You didn't manage to possess any of the ocean's Pokémon?" Snake asked his eye twitching slightly. "I hope you realise it will be my neck on the line when the Master finds out!"

"It wasn't a complete failure... about 20% of the people I originally possessed on the ship stayed that way." Question Mark said nervously

"Not bad... but the original goal was to take over the whole ship!" Snake snapped. "Do you not remember anything about the people who defeated you? Was it that Zoura girl?"

"I think it may have been her but I can't completely remember... I remember seeing her just before I retreated though..." Question Mark said frowning.

"Useless!" Snake snapped angrily. "You know your orders Question Mark head to operation 'Black mansion' and ensure you don't fail me again!" Snake hissed angrily causing Question Mark to swallow in fear before leaving the room. Snake paced around the room a few times breathing deeply. "Argonaut! Slystealth! Stop sulking in the shadows! I know you're there!" He cried causing a burleys man and an attractive woman to walk out of the shadows.

"Boss! You should have left operation 'sink or swim' to me!" Argonaut shouted "I would have knocked out the Zoura so bad so wouldn't have been able to wake up and interfere for a year!"

"With you on board that ship most defiantly would have sunk..." Slystealth muttered causing Argonaut to go red with anger.

"Enough!" Snake shouted causing both of them to flinch. "Until the Master decides to show himself to the world you're to take orders from me!" Snake shouted. "Argonaut you will continue on operation 'Speed' and Slystealth continue mission 'Jungle' as well. If either of you see that Zoura girl make sure that she's captured along with anybody she's travelling with. She might be travelling with the people who defeated Question Mark for all we know... and even if she isn't any companions she has will make good slaves..." Snake said laughing evilly. "Make sure you two don't make the same mistake Question Mark did..."

* think of the outfit hunter J wears for the poachers.

_**As you may have gathered this story is now a year old… I feel so proud! Maybe I should do a Christmas special to celebrate… we're still not even halfway through the story yet but with the fourth gym battle coming up in a few chapters we can't be far away…. Though even I don't know how many chapters this story will have when it's finally over. I still haven't decided on whether to do a sequel or not either! I seem to leaning towards the sequel idea more though as I get more ideas that can only be done in a sequel (mainly because of the location)**_

_**Maya and Dorte (Aurora's mum and dad) apparently means illusion in different languages but I'm not sure if this is correct. I imagine that Dorte is pronounced dor-a-tor-ray… again I have no idea how it's actually pronounced but I think it sounds cool like that. Especially if you make it sound slightly Italian.**_

_**It's a very depressing chapter for the one year anniversary but I really wanted to give Aurora and Adolfo some limelight as they didn't get much during the SS Anne arc... **_

_**As a special birthday treat (and because I'm having trouble deciding) I'll let you guys decide the next chapter in the storyline. All of the chapters will made made eventually this is just a vote on which one comes first. you have three choices. If no one votes or the result is a tie I'll decide.**_

_**Chapter A)**_ Gone with the wind- the group enounter a group of Hoppip moving on a wind current but one Hoppip has trouble getting his feet off the ground...

_**Chapter B)**_ PIchu's Arrow- Liz is sick and tired of Billy's and Paula's constant arguing so she decides to try and get the two to fall in love...

_**Chapter C)**_ Back to Preschool- The group somehow winds up as temporary helpers in a Preschool full of pushy demanding kIds. The eight gym leader will make his grand apperance in this chapter...

_**Reviewers will get some virtual birthday cake **_


	40. Pichu's Arrow

Pichu's Arrow

Disclaimer- Brains... Oh wait I'm not a zombie... yet... that must mean (somehow) that I don't own Pokémon

**Liz's POV**

"CONTESTS ARE A MILLION TIMES BETTER THEN BATTLES!" Paula yelled at Billy.

"NO WAY! CONTESTS ARE LAME! THE POKÉMON DON'T GET ANY REAL EXPERIENCE!" Billy argued.

"Ug... someone make them stop..." Bubbles complained putting her hands over her ears.

"CONTESTS ARE AN ART FORM WHEREAS A BATTLE IS JUST MAKING POKEMON SLAM INTO EACH OTHER!" Paula restorted.

"WELL POKEMON BATTLE IN THE WILD YOU NEVER SEE THEM PRACTISING FOR CONTESTS IN THE WILD!" Billy yelled getting red in the face.

"You haven't had to put up with them for as long as me and Liz.." Luke said sighing.

"I BET IF WILD POKEMON KNEW ABOUT CONTESTS THEY WOULD PRACTISE FOR THEM!" Paula screamed

"Yer..." I said sighing in annoyance. "I swear married couples argue less..." I said trailing off as an idea popped into my mind. "Luke that's it!"

"NO THEY WOULDN'T!" Billy yelled

"What's it?" Everyone (besides Billy and Paula obviously) asked in unison.

"WOULD!"

"We should get them to fall in love! If they fall in love they'll argue less! Plus, if they're in love they'll be all over each other so that means we won't have to travel everywhere like our hairs on fire!" I said grinning.

"WOULDN'T!"

"I don't know..." Luke said trailing off looking at the (hopefully future) couple. "It's hard to force anyone to fall in love... plus, they're only ten! I don't think a relationship would be the first thing on their minds."

"WOULD!"

"It sounds interesting..." Aurora piped up. "I've never seen human mating..."

"I wonder if they'll produce an egg..." Adolfo piped up. "Liz when are you going to mate with Luke?

"WOULDN'T!"

"W-what are you talking about?" I stammered my face going bright red while Bubbles giggled in the background. "They're not going to make an egg and never am I!"

"Liz and I aren't in that kind of relationship!" Luke said also looking bright red.

"WOULD!"

"Sure that's what you say now." Adolfo said rolling his eyes. "Just wait till spring... hormones all over the place! Especially in male canine Pokémon." he said giving Luke a meaningful look while Luke turned even brighter red.

"Yer we've been through mating season before..." Shadow said slowly. "But nothing ever happens I'm not too sure if it would even affect Luke as he's also human... but it might be different now that we actually have females traveling with us..."

"WOULDN'T!"

"Hopefully our journey will be over before we hit spring." I said quickly. "Anyway this isn't about me and Luke this is about Billy and Paula! If we can get those two together the rest of our journey will be peaceful and quiet!"

"Don't your plans normally make a habit of blowing up in your face?" Luke questioned doubtfully.

"I'm sure this one will work!" I said smiling with confidence.

"THEY WOULD AND YOU WELL KNOW IT!" Paula screamed.

"NO THEY WOULDN'T!" Billy yelled getting red in the face.

"Well the sooner we can those two to stop fighting the better I say... count me in!" Bubbles said smiling slightly.

"I really want to see the human mating process so count me in as well!" Aurora said smiling.

"What about you Luke?" I questioned him as he fiddled with his amulet.

"Well no matter what happens they can't get any worse than this... I'll help to." He said smiling.

"WOULD! WOULD! WOULD!"

"Yay we get to see how humans make an egg!" Adolfo cried with excitement.

"For the last time they won't be making an egg..." I said sighing.

"WOULDN'T TIMES A MILLION!"

"I wanna see human mating as well!" Sparkette piped up with excitement. "Let's hurry up and start operation Pichu's arrow!"

"Pichu's arrow?" I questioned. "Don't you mean Cupid's arrow? And we don't need to give the plan a name..."

"Well Cupid's not here and this is your plan so it's Pichu's arrow!" Sparkette cried grinning.

"THEY WOULD!"

"Cupid's not actually real..." I said sighing. "Call it what you will but we really need to get those two together before we end up deaf!"

"Agreed."

**Billy's POV**

"I WON'T TALK TO YOU UNTIL YOU ADMIT I'M RGHT!" Paula screamed.

"FINE WITH ME! I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU ANYWAY!" I shouted.

"ENOUGH ALREADY!" Liz cried before turning into a Pichu and electrocuting us before turning back.

"L-Liz did you really need to zap us?" Paula questioned twitching.

"Liz how many times do we need to go over this you're not meant to zap me I'm your trainer!" I cried in annoyance.

"Doesn't mean you own me." Liz muttered causing me to frown.

"Anyway," Luke said loudly sensing another argument "we just got tired of you two always arguing so shake hands and make friends!" I glared at Paula making her pull her tongue out at me. I stared at the rest of the group and noticed most of them were glaring at me. Deciding not to argue with them me and Paula reluctantly shook hands.

"Happy now?" I questioned angrily.

"Zorua?" Adolfo questioned making Liz frown.

"For the last time they aren't-" She began then noticing Paula and my curious looks turned slightly red. "It's nothing important." She said refusing to look us in the eyes.

"Shouldn't we get going?" Bubbles questioned awkwardly "I mean we can't stand around here all day..."

"Let's go then..." I said throwing Paula another glare before marching ahead.

**Bubbles' POV**

"So what's the first step in operation Pichu's arrow?" Sparkette questioned eagerly.

"There are normally steps to falling in love..." Luke began "you know getting to know each other more... getting closer than normal... then you feel attracted to the person and you're in love..."

"Wow Luke I didn't know you were such an expert." Liz said teasing. "But he's right. It would be great if we could get those two to go on date together... then they could have a romantic meal of some kind... then we play some romantic music... they start dancing... and they're in love!"

"It's that easy?" Adolfo questioned in amazement "When a Zorua wants to find a mate they have to have illusion battles with any other male who wants the same mate... it's really exhausting."

"You've never mated before!" Aurora teased.

"Doesn't mean that I haven't practised for illusion battles!" Adolfo shot back.

"But they can't exactly go on a date... we are in the middle of the forest after all." I pointed out.

"Don't worry I have a plan." Liz said grinning. "But Aurora and Adolfo I'm going to need your help..."

**Aurora's POV**

"You ready Adolfo?" I questioned my brother grinning.

"Of course!" He replied eagerly. The two of us began concentrating both imagining the illusion that we wanted to make. Liz had asked us to make a fair ground with a few rides like a Ferris wheel and a carousel slightly ahead of us. I made a copy of myself and made myself look invisible while I ran ahead and sat in a ticket sale changing my appearance as I did so. I now looked like an elderly man dress in a black suit with a name badge reading 'Mick' on it.

"Wow a fairground!" I heard Paula cry in amazement making me grin to myself. I made it look like the rides were moving and that there were a few people walking around.

"We can't stop we have to get to the next city!" Billy cried impatiently.

"Come on its good to have a break once in a while!" Liz said grinning while patting him on the back. "We should go!"

"Never took you to be the type to be so excited about these things." Billy said stunned.

"I haven't been to a fair ground in ages please can we go?" Bubbles begged

"I haven't been to one of those things since I was a kid!" Luke said grinning.

"I've seen them but I've never been to one." I made my copy say.

"Please can we go?" Paula asked

"Please?" Everyone else (bar Billy and Paula) questioned in unison smiling widely.

"You guys scare me sometimes." Billy said blinking before shrugging. "You guys are right! This should be fun! It's been ages since I've been to a fairground!"

"Brilliant!" Liz cried grinning happily. The group walked up to me and I resisted the urge to grin.

"You came on a good day it's the festival's last day open so it's free entry!" I said trying not to laugh.

"That's lucky." Billy said blinking.

"Come on let's go already!" Paula cried running towards Billy followed her quickly but the rest of the group stayed by me.

"Let's go Aurora." Liz whispered to me. I started concentrating again making my copy disappear and making sure that team 'Pichu's arrow' weren't visible to Billy and Paula.

"First we'll go into the haunted house then we'll-" Billy began before looking around. "Hey! They're gone!" He cried making all of us snigger.

"Hush!" I whispered "He might hear us the illusion isn't perfect!"

"Did you hear something?" Paula questioned looking around making us all freeze.

"Paula that's not important right now... everyone's just vanished!" Billy said looking around making us sigh with relief.

"You're right!" Paula cried growing pale. "What do we do?"

"Maybe we can ask if we can make an announcement over the speakers…" Billy mused "Come on we've got to stick together." He said walking forwards with Paula following close behind him. We followed slowly behind being careful not to make any noise.

"Adolfo can you do this illusion?" I whispered to my brother. "I'm using all my energy just to keep this fairground from disappearing!"

"No prob Aurora!" Adolfo said grinning "Just keeping focusing on the people otherwise they'll disappear!" Adolfo ran ahead of us making sure that Billy and Paula didn't spot him (he wasn't good at making himself invisible). He quickly changed into a young spotted teenager but I noticed something that made me gape.

"Adolfo I can still see your ears and tail!" I shouted making Billy and Paula look around.

"I still haven't mastered turning into a human!" Adolfo cried in shock desperately trying to hide before Billy and Paula spotted him.

"I could have sworn I heard Aurora…" Billy muttered looking around before spotting my brother "Look there's someone who might be able to help us! Excuse me!" Billy cried running up to my brother who attempted to run away before he was caught.

"Don't run! We just want to ask you a question!" Paula cried.

"Aurora can you hide my hat for a few seconds? But make sure Adolfo can see it?" Liz questioned as we ran after Billy and Paula.

"Of course!" I said confidently grinning.

"Then hide it!" Liz said before throwing her hat towards Adolfo "Catch it and put it on your head Adolfo!" I quickly used my illusion ability so that no one could see the hat and Adolfo quickly grabbed it and plunged it onto his head just as Billy and Paula caught up to him.

"Aurora look!" Bubbles hissed nudging me in the ribs. I looked around and noticed some of the rides and people were fading but luckily Billy and Paula were focused on my brother so they didn't notice. I quickly added more of my strength into the illusion feeling myself go weaker in the process.

"Don't drain all of your strength." Shadow said looking at me with worry.

"Don't worry about me." I said smiling "Liz already told me to just abort the mission if I get to tired."

"Really?" Shadow asked doubtfully looking at Liz who either didn't hear or ignored us.

"We finally caught up." Billy said gasping for breath while my brother quickly hid his tail as well.

"There was no need to run away!" Paula said in annoyance.

"Sorry I got a report saying there was an accident over here but it turned out to be a false alarm." Adolfo lied quickly.

"He's not very good at speaking English is he?" Sparkette whispered.

"It's sounds like he's got a really heavy accent!" Sparky said grinning.

"Don't make fun of him you two!" Bubbles scolded "it's not nice to laugh at your friends! Besides you two can't speak English at all!"

"Sorry." Adolfo said sheepishly fiddling with Liz's hat.

"Isn't that the same hat Liz has?" Billy asked peering at it.

"Lots of people have the same hat as Liz." Paula said rolling her eyes. "It's not exactly uncommon."

"Can I help you two with anything?" Adolfo asked quickly trying to change the subject.

"Oh that's right!" Paula cried in realisation "We wanted to ask if we could make an announcement over the speakers. We've lost our friends you see and we want to arrange a meeting point."

"I'm sorry the speakers are broken." Adolfo said trying not to grin as Billy and Paula sagged in disappointment. "But why don't you two ride the Ferris wheel instead? You can whole the whole park from the top! I'm sure you'll be able to spot your friends if you ride it enough times. Plus, it's very popular with couples." Adolfo said winking at the pair of them making them frown.

"We're not a couple." They said in unison before glaring at each other. "Quit copying me! Seriously stop it!" Adolfo's grin faltered as the two began arguing making us all sigh.

"Oh brother…" Liz said shaking her head.

"Do you admit this is a bad idea?" Luke questioned with a knowing smirk.

"Once they get on that Ferris wheel they're bound to get some feelings for each other!" Liz said with annoyance. "Especially when they end up staying on their longer than planned…."

**Paula's POV**

"I can't believe I'm suck on this Ferris wheel with you…" Billy muttered in annoyance as the ride moved slowly upwards.

"Just keep quiet and look for them would you?" I hissed. "I'm not exactly enjoying this either…" We passed a few minutes by in silence with each of us looking out the window trying to spot our friends.

"Something about this seems familiar…" Billy mused loudly.

"What do you mean?"

"I think I played a game where I was forced onto a Ferris wheel with some creepy guy who turned out to be the leader of an evil organisation…" Billy said before gasping loudly "Paula you're not behind the black fog are you?!" He cried causing me to sigh and shake my head.

"Billy don't be stupid." I said bluntly.

"Don't call me stupid." Billy muttered folding his arms. We quietly went back to staring out the window as the ride began to make some loud creaking noises.

"You don't think the ride will break do you?" I said looking around with worry.

"I hope not…." Billy trailed off also looking worried. Our worst fears were confirmed as the ride stopped suddenly and we looked at each other with worry. "Maybe they're just picking up other people?" Billy offered hopefully.

"We're sorry to announce that the ride has broken. Please be patient while we attempt to fix the problem." An announcer said over the speakers.

"Why do the speakers work in a broken Ferris wheel but not the rest of the theme park?" I asked irritated.

"Don't ask me." Billy asked sitting down with a sigh. I sat down on the opposite side and stared at my knees. There was complete silence as our compartment rocked slightly in the wind.

"What are we going to do when we find everyone?" I asked breaking the silence.

"Dunno…" Billy said shrugging. "By the time we find them it will probably be time to leave… I bet everyone else is having a great time right now while we're stuck here." He said sulking making me sigh softly.

"You're probably right…" I said as my stomach began to gurgle with hunger. "Do you have any food?"

"Nope Luke and Liz carry the food you know that." Billy said sulking just as his stomach began to gurgle as well.

"Billy… why do you travel with Liz?" I asked curiously making him shrug.

"I caught her you know that." He said simply.

"But surely the second you found out she was human you would have run away screaming… or at least fainted… that's what I would have done." I said looking at the sky.

"You didn't do either of those things when you found out." Billy pointed out. "Instead you decided to follow us around…" Billy said before grinning cheekily "I can't decide which is worse…" I shoved him in annoyance making the capsule rock.

"But I was shocked and seeing you react so calmly made me feel a lot better about the whole situation made me feel a lot better if it was just me by myself and Liz I don't how I would have reacted." I admitted. Silence fell on the capsule again and I felt extremely awkward.

"What's your dream Billy?" I asked out the blue.

"To become the champion obviously." Billy said smiling with a faraway look in his eyes. "I want to be the first champion to reach the top and say I got there without any help."

"Aren't we helping you?" I asked blinking. "I bet you wouldn't have come half as far as you have without our help."

"You guys aren't helping me!" Billy defended "I haven't taken so much as a potion of you guys! I wouldn't even take that egg off the day-care people!" Billy pointed out with anger in his voice.

"We may not be helping you in terms of giving you items but we are helping in ways you can barely imagine…" I said feeling a bit disappointed. "If it wasn't for Liz you probably wouldn't have caught any different Pokémon! You defiantly wouldn't have caught that Cubone! If it wasn't for Luke you probably wouldn't take the time to think about situations! Plus, he's a really good navigator if it wasn't for him you still wouldn't have your third badge! And I… help you expand your horizons! If it wasn't for me you never would have even tried contests! I bet we're going to help you a lot more in the future as well… even Bubbles, Aurora, Red, Skyla and everyone else will help us grow and develop ourselves!" I pointed out.

"No way!" Billy cried in protest. "You guys haven't helped me at all! I could probably travel by myself I and still be where I am today!"

"Billy Derringer with that attitude it's a miracle that you still have friends!" I shouted getting irritated.

"Well excuse me!" Billy shouted back getting to his feet. "I didn't realise I had to be grateful for you guys following me around on MY journey!"

"You're not the only one in our group you know!" I shouted also getting to feet as the capsule started rocking violently.

**Bubbles' POV**

"I don't think the plan is working!" I cried looking at the two arguing.

"I feel sick…" Aurora said sitting down while looking very pale. "I don't think I can keep up the illusion much longer…"

"Is this the part of the plan where it blows up in your face?" Luke questioned Liz who started to turn pale.

"That's it!" Liz cried in annoyance "I give up! I'm not playing matchmaker again! Aurora cancel the illusion before you collapse! The rest of you help me think of a good excuse why Billy and Paula will soon see themselves in a green field instead of on a Ferris wheel!"

"Or you could just explain to that to us Liz." Billy said glaring at her.

"Seriously was that all just a trick you played on us?" Paula asked with her hands on her hips.

"Um… well you see..." Liz began before turning around and running away.

"Liz get back here!" Billy and Paula cried in unison chasing after her. The rest of us stood there and sighed in unison.

"Guess operation Pichu's arrow was a failure..." Sparkette said sighing.

**Later that night….**

After Liz had been captured and tied up to a tree the rest of us ate dinner around the campfire.

"Okay guys I've learnt my lesson now can you please untie me?" Liz begged from the tree.

"I told we should have gagged her..." I heard Paula whisper to Billy.

"Remind me never to get on her bad side…" Sparky said shivering.

"It is just me or do they seem closer than before?" I whispered making everyone look at them as Billy and Paula chatted casually.

"So humans mate by tying up another human?" Adolfo guessed.

"No." Luke said sighing. "That just sounds wrong…"

"But maybe operation Pichu's arrow wasn't a complete failure!" Sparkette said happily.

"Hey!" Billy cried loudly making everyone look at him. "You ate the last donut!" He cried pointing at Paula.

"What?!" Paula cried in surprise "I did not!"

"You did so!"

"Did not!"

"Never mind." I said sighing "It was just my imagination." Everyone sighed in unison as we watched the two argue while Liz munched on a donut in Pichu form.

_**IF YOU HAVEN'T GOT B/W2 YET GO GET IT NOW!**_

_**Sorry this took s**__**o long it should have been out a while ago but I had to battle sickness and lack of motivation for a few weeks… t**__**his was actually one of the chapter ideas that I had at the very beginning of the story (impressive seeing as I only planned a few chapters and**__** the rest I**__**sort of just made up the rest as I went along) I can't say when the next chapter will be… I'm on my holidays but I wanna play my new copy of white 2 so expect it when it comes…**_ _**Sorry as well for the lack of romance as well but this is an friendship story there probably won't be much full out romance scenes**__**…. originally this was a longer chapter with more plans in the theme park (including a haunted house scene) but I got a bit lazy as bits of the story kept deleting itself so I got a bit bored re-writing old scenes. Maybe one day I'll go back and add more in… probably not likely though. The ending was originally**__** more mushy as well but I decided I liked this ending better.**_


	41. Back to Preschool

Disclaimer – I don't own Pokémon and Matt belongs to RuningWitSizorz

Back to Preschool

**Liz's POV**

We walked wordlessly down yet another dirt path. I sighed inwardly it was almost as if someone had deliberately gone through the whole of Kanto to make every path and tree look the same. Suddenly the ground beneath our feet began to crumble and we looked at it curiously. Suddenly the ground collapsed and we fell down a giant hole.

"Ouch...what happened?" Paula said rubbing her back slightly. I looked up we hadn't fell as far down as I first thought. We could easily climb out.

"Any volunteer's for climbing out the hole first?" Bubbles offered making us look at each other. Suddenly two small children (a boy and a girl) appeared at the holes opening.

"Prepare for trouble!" the young girl cried.

"And make it double!" the young boy said leaning against the girl. I blinked in confusion.

"What are they doing?" I asked Luke who shrugged with a smile on his face.

"To protect the world from boring school!"

"To unite all kids from teacher's misrule!"

"To denounce the evils of doing homework!"

"To defend our fun from the grownup's lurk!"

"Monica!"

"Adam!"

"Team Playschool running around at the speed of light!"

"Play with us now or prepare to fight!"

"Now I've got you in my sight!" A third unfamiliar angry sounding voice cried causing the kids to flinch in fear.

"Team playschool's running off for now!" They said in unison before running off.

"Well that was weird…" Aurora said slowly. "Cute but weird…."

"Let's get out of this hole." Luke said climbing out first before helping Billy and Paula out. I passed up Shadow and then climbed up myself and Bubbles (Sparky and Sparkette were on her shoulders) and Aurora followed after.

"Hey are you guys alright?!" A teenager cried running up to us. He had black hair with some blue stripes running through it and had grey eyes. He was wearing a white top and a silver necklace with a multicoloured spiral at the end *** **his jeans were black and he was wearing a chain like belt with six Poké balls on it. Behind him floated a strange blue and red Pokémon which had the two children we had saw earlier trapped in a barrier.

"Wow a Porygon-Z!" Luke cried in amazement quickly pulling off his bag and began pulling several items out of it. "Where's my camera gone?" he cried in despair before finding it and taking several pictures. "How on earth did you catch it?"

"Erm…" The teen began "I won it off this Casino in Celadon a few years ago… but that's beside the point!" He said shaking his head quickly. "Were any of you guys hurt in the fall? These two kids," He said glaring at the two trapped children who pulled faces at him in return. "decided it would be a good idea to escape from the pre-school and dig a giant hole. Where they got the equipment from to do that I'll never know… but I was meant to be looking after them… so if any of you are hurt it's my fault…" He said hanging his head in shame.

"Well we're all fine so there's no need to be concerned." Bubbles said smiling while Sparky and Sparkette nodded in agreement on her shoulders.

"That's good." The teen said sighing in relief before looking over our large group. There was a slight eyebrow raise and he grinned. "My name is Matt it's nice to meet you all." He said holding out both his hands. We each introduced ourselves and shook one his hands (or both in the case of Bubbles).

"How did those kids escape in the first place?" I questioned in curiosity.

"Yer shouldn't the teachers be looking after them?" Paula questioned in confusion. "You look a bit young to be looking after a big group of kids."

"Looks can be deceiving." Matt said winking at us. "Though I look like a teenager I am actually 50!" He cried making us all gape as he burst out laughing "You should have seen the look on your faces!" Matt cried between laughs "I'm joking! I'm joking! But time to act serious… Recently a nearby school closed so this preschool has been helping look after the extra kids. But it's was too much for the staff to handle so they called me in to help." Matt explained "but it's a bit too much even with me helping…. we could really use some more help looking after them all…" Matt said sighing as he looked at us with hopeful eyes. There was silence throughout our group and I knew what they were thinking.

"Well good luck finding someone to help you." I said quickly. "Come on guys we've got to go to the next city." I said pushing Billy forwards.

"Wait a minute!" He cried escaping from my grip. "Why don't we help?!"

"I knew he was going to say that." I muttered angrily

"You guys would help me?" Matt said happily grinning as if he had been expecting Billy to say that.

"As the saying goes those who help out a friend in need are friends indeed!" Bubbles quoted.

"It would be extremely rude to walk off without helping." Paula said looking at me.

"No need to rub it in." I muttered glaring at her.

"We'll help as well!" Luke, Aurora, Adolfo and Shadow said in unison.

"Then it's settled!" Billy said happily "How hard can looking after a bunch of kids be?"

**Billy's POV**

"You know when you join a new school and everyone's looking at you like your fresh meat?" Paula questioned us her face getting pale. "I'm getting that feeling right now…" Ahead of us was a large playground with many children screaming and running around. They were currently using water pistols on the poor staff drenching them. They looked like they would eat us alive.

"Don't worry their bite's worse than their bark." Matt said grinning before walking ahead of us.

"I think he's joking…" Bubbles said nervously "Or at least I hope he is…"

"I didn't even want to come here but you guys were like 'oh we have to help this random stranger for no apparent reason'!" Liz cried doing a rubbish impression of my voice.

"We've already come all the way here so we may as well go in." I said taking a deep breath and trying to act confident. "Just act calm." I said reassuringly "and don't show any fear!" I said swallowing nervously.

"How those words inspire me so o' fearless leader." Liz said her voice dripping with sarcasm. I followed behind Matt staying as close behind him as possible.

"Matt!" A woman cried running up to us. She looked very stressed, tired and wet (from the water pistols). "Did you find Adam and Monica alright?" she questioned him.

"Don't worry." Matt said grinning pointing at the floating box which contained two sleeping kids. "I managed to find them without too much trouble."

"Oh who are these people?" The woman asked looking over our large group.

"Just some extra helpers I picked up on the way." Matt said grinning.

"You can't just make some strangers off the street help you even if we are overrun! Seriously Matt they could be anyone!" The woman shouted angrily at Matt who looked like he was trying not to smile. "Does any common sense run through your mind at all?" The woman asked sighing in frustration.

"Well there's enough common sense to recognise that with six extra people and four Pokémon helping out we won't be struggling so much." Matt said shrugging "Especially seeing as they are trainers and all the kids love Pokémon." He smirked "But seeing as you're so insistent I could always send them on their way." He said as the woman gaped.

"Don't do that!" She cried desperately causing Matt to smirk again as the woman realised he had tricked her. "Fine they can help." She said sighing "Can I just see your trainer licenses?" She questioned as we all handed over a small license (expect Liz). "What about you?" she questioned Liz who squirmed uncomfortably.

"Erm… well I sort of… don't have a license…."she admitted as the woman frowned at her.

"But Liz!" Aurora said loudly before the woman could say anything. "Your license is in your pocket REMEMBER?" She said loudly causing Liz to frown slightly.

"My pocket..?" Liz questioned reaching in her pocket and pulling out a licence. "Would you look at that? It was here this whole time…" She said grinning sheepishly handing over the license. The woman looked them all over and smiled.

"Well they all seem to be real and if the government trusts you all with Pokémon you should be alright with children." The woman said handing back the licenses with a small smile. "Follow me I'll put you guys in the same room as Matt, he can keep an eye on you all just in case." She said heading into the school with Matt following her.

"You're welcome by the way." Aurora whispered to Liz as both their licenses disappeared into thin air.

"I'm glad she's on our side." Paula muttered from besides me.

"We're in the Spearow class." Matt explained to us as we walked into the building. "We'll be looking after the oldest children in the pre-school but most of the trouble makers are in that class including Adam and Monica here." He said pointing to the floating box.

"I'm looking after the Pidgey class if you need any help." The woman said before walking in a different direction.

"And then there were seven…." Matt said in an ominous voice "Well eleven if you count Pokémon as well." He said grinning as we walked up to a door with a picture of a Spearow on it. "Here we are." He said opening the room.

"Adam! Monica! You're back!" All the children cried running up to us. "How did your quest for world domination go?"

"We were thwarted by Matt." Adam said folding his arms angrily as he and Monica were released (Matt had closed the door meaning they couldn't escape).

"We even had an epic bad guy motto and we were still defeated." Monica said sulking.

"Well it's to be expected after all." One small child said smugly making Adam glare at him. "You guys don't even have any Pokémon and Matt's a gym leader!"

"You're a gym leader?!" I questioned Matt in excitement.

"The moment I get a Pokémon I'll easily defeat Matt!" Adam cried with confidence ignoring me.

"We'll just have to see about that." Matt said laughing. "And yes Billy I'm the new gym leader of the Viridian gym."

"Isn't that one of the hardest gyms to defeat?" Luke questioned in amazement.

"Well I do have a special team for anyone with no badges to challenge me with. Quite a lot of beginning trainers come to battle because the gym's so close to Pallet. I thrash most of them with a Pidgey I caught in the nearby area. I don't let anyone challenge my real team unless they have more than six badges." Matt explained.

"Does that mean you won't let me have a battle?" I questioned sadly. "I only have three badges…."

"Well today the kids have to learn about battling so we'll have to see later." Matt said grinning.

"Battles!" All the kids cried with excitement.

"That's right!" Matt said grinning. "I've even got these nice trainers to help me out." He said pointing to all of us. "And this!" Matt said going into a cupboard and pulling out a box full of Poké balls making the kids gasp.

"Trusting a bunch of pre-schoolers with possibly dangerous Pokémon. Because that defiantly won't go wrong." Liz muttered under her breath.

"Everyone take one Pokémon out of the box." Matt said not hearing Liz. The children shoved and fought over the box until they each had one Pokémon. "Now let's go outside so that we'll have more room. And no running off this time!" Matt cried glaring at Adam and Monica. We all came outside again standing in the big empty school yard were almost immediately the kids released their Pokémon. They were all first form Pokémon and seemed quite weak. There were a lot of Caterpies, Spinaraks, Azurills, and many other Pokémon. A young boy gawked at the Charmander that had appeared in front of his and reached out towards the flame.

"Don't touch that Charmander's tail!" Bubbles cried in fear pulling a young boy away from the Charmander.

"I knew I was right about choosing you guys to help me!" Matt said smiling happily.

"A young boy nearly got his hand burnt off and that's all you can say?" Paula asked in disbelief.

"Don't worry all of these Pokémon have been specially trained not to hurt anyone. Look even if I stick my hand in the fire it won't hurt at all." Matt said walking over to the Charmander and sticking his hand in the flame to prove his point.

"Logic 0-Pokémon 1," Luke said taking a picture of Matt and the Charmander.

"Anyway I need you all to gather into groups based on what your Pokémon's type is. There should be an equal amount in each group. If you're unsure about your Pokémon's type just ask one of us." The children separated into seven different groups only a few got the types wrong.

"I'm telling you Azurill is a Water type!" I said trying to convince a little girl to go into the Water type section.

"No way it's a Normal type!" She argued back. "Check your Dexter!" She cried pointing at the Pokédex.

"Fine!" I cried taking out the Pokédex. _'Azurill the Normal type Pokémon-' _I quickly snapped the Pokédex shut making the little girl giggle at me.

"See! I told you it was a Normal type!" She cried victoriously.

"Erm…. I was just testing you!" I quickly lied.

"Yer sure!" She said giggling again.

"You now should be in seven groups- no thanks to Billy." Matt said grinning at me while I flushed in embarrassment. "There should be a group for Normal, Grass, Bug, Water, Fire, Flying and Electric types… and looking around I can see you've all managed that really well! You guys must have been revising your types…"

"Of course! Do you doubt us Matt?" Adam called out arrogantly.

"Honestly we're not idiots." Monica said sighing "Unlike some of the help you brought in…" She muttered looking at me.

"Hey!" I cried making the kids giggle again.

"I think I like these kids." Liz said grinning.

"Anyway I'll be in charge of the Normal type group seeing as that is my specialist type." Matt announced. "That leaves each of you guys with one of the other types. Pick a Pokémon from the box if you don't mind."

"Can't we just us our own Pokémon to teach them?" Bubbles asked.

"Well you can but the chances are that you might have to battle with the kids to help them understand something a bit more. I'm guessing whatever teams you have will be too strong for the pre-school Pokémon. There should be one Pokémon of each type left so just teach the group depending on what Pokémon you get." Matt explained.

"Well that explains that." Aurora said grinning before fishing around in the box. "Go Pokémon!" She cried releasing her Pokémon. "It's a Corphish!" Aurora cried in realisation. "I guess that means I'm teaching the water types." She said walking towards the Water type group with the Corphish following her.

"I'm going next!" Paula cried running towards the box and pulling out a Poké ball. "Go!" She cried releasing her Pokémon which turned out to be a Hoppip. "Wait aren't Hoppips Grass and Flying types?" She questioned Matt in confusion.

"Well yes but this Hoppip can only use Grass type moves at the moment… and it's having some trouble flying…" He said sheepishly as the Hoppip jumped desperately into the air trying to fly.

"Poor thing…" Paula murmured picking up the Hoppip in her arms. "I think you're a great Pokémon even if you can't fly." She said making the Hoppip's eyes shine happily as she walked towards the grass type group.

"I guess I'll go next…" Liz said sheepishly "Please be an electric type… please be an electric type…" Liz muttered to herself as she grabbed one of the Poké balls. "Go?" She questioned as the Poké ball opened making all of us laugh.

"Liz irony loves you!" I said laughing looking at the small Pichu by Liz's feet who looked up at her in confusion.

"Someone somewhere has it out for me…" Liz said sighing. "At least I have the electric type I know the most about…" She said heading towards the Electric type group.

"What's so funny?" Matt questioned the rest of us in confusion.

"It's a long story." Luke said sighing finally calming down. "I'll go next if no one else minds…" He said before heading to the box and grabbing a Poké ball. He opened it wordlessly revealing a Burmy. "I guess that makes me the Bug type…" Luke said heading towards the Bug group.

"I can't stand waiting anymore!" Bubbles cried running towards the box and grabbing one of the two remain Poké balls. "Go!" she cried releasing a Starly. "That means I'm the Flying type!" She said running over to the flying group with Sparky and Sparkette chasing her.

"That leaves me as the Fire type." I said walking over to the last Poké ball and releasing a Magby.

"Now that that's sorted out we can begin!" Matt proclaimed happily.

**Paula's POV**

"For now tell the group all you know about the type you have." Matt said to us before turning his attention to his group.

"Well that should be easy enough." I said to myself placing the Hoppip on the ground. "Go Felicity and Alice!" I cried releasing my Growlithe and Wartortle.

"You do realise we're learning about the Grass type right?" Monica questioned folding her arms.

"I know that!" I snapped. "I'm about to demonstrate something if you just give me a chance!" I shouted making the class flinch before sighing. "I'm sorry." I apologised "Just give me a chance to explain. You see Grass types are very resistant against Water types. Alice could you use Water gun against Hoppip?" Alice did a light Water Gun making Hoppip dance happily. "However they are weak against fire types like Growlithe. Felicity could you use an Ember attack near Hoppip?" Felicity used a small ember near Hoppip making it hide behind my legs in fear. "Grass types are also weak to Ice, Bug, Flying and Poison type moves but they are strong against Ground and Rock types." I explained making the children gape.

"Using your Pokémon to explain types?" Bubbles questioned spying on my group. "That's not a bad idea! Sparky and Sparkette use Charge beam near Starly!" Sparky and Sparkette joined hands and released a double charge beam attack accidently hitting the Starly making it faint. "Whoops…" Bubbles said sheepishly. The Charge beam continued and had a near miss with Corphish and actually did hit Pichu.

"You nearly hit Corphish Bubbles!" Aurora shouted "That would have knocked it out if it had had hit!"

"You actually did hit Pichu…." Liz said looking at the Pichu who sat up and shook its head looking fine.

"Sorry you guys!" Bubbles cried guiltily.

"Well it's a somewhat strange method of explaining types but you are showing what is strong and weak against your types!" Matt said laughing. "But I think we need a different method. I need two volunteers!"

"Pick me! Pick me!" Adam cried jumping in the air.

"Memememememe!" Monica begged waving her hand wildly in the air.

"Go on then." Matt said shrugging "Let's see you guys have a fire and a grass type with you?" Matt murmured looking at the Pokémon by their sides. "Billy and Paula I need your help as well!"

"Really?" Billy questioned "What for?"

"A double battle of course!" Matt answered.

"Brilliant!" Billy and the kids cried happily.

"Stand on two sides of the battle field." Matt cried "I'll be the referee."

"But before we battle we have to do something!" Monica cried desperately.

"That's right!" Adam cried in realisation "The motto!"

"Not another motto you guys…" Matt said sighing

"Prepare to be taken down!" Monica cried ignoring Matt.

"Double battle style!" Adam joined in.

"To make all trainers fear our wrath!"

"You will walk the loser's path!"

"We'll have a massive celebration!"

"When you're crying in desperation!"

"Monica!"

"Adam!"

"Team Playschool wins all the time!"

"To the top- we will climb!" Adam finished

"Do they have to rhyme?" Liz asked sighing.

"Probably." Luke said shrugging.

"You guys ready now?" Matt asked in frustration.

"Of course!" The kids cried in unison. "Go Pokémon!" They shouted making a Ponyta and a Snivy walk onto the field.

"Go Hoppip!" I cried

"You as well Magby!" Billy shouted as our Pokémon walked onto the field.

"Now remember Fire is strong against grass while grass is neutral against Grass. If you keep this in mind you should be able to come up with a winning strategy based on what moves your Pokémon knows." Matt explained. "So let the battle begin!"

"Ponyta start things off with a Flamethrower!" Adam cried quickly making his Ponyta unleashed a huge stream of fire straight towards Hoppip.

"Magby jump in the fire!" Billy ordered quickly making Magby jump in front of Hoppip as the fire hit it winced in pain.

"Fire type moves still damage Fire types unless they have abilities like Flash fire." Matt explained "However they don't do as much damage to Fire types as they would a Grass or a Bug type."

"Hoppip use Razor leaf!" I ordered as Hoppip produced a lot of green leaves and fired them towards the enemy team.

"Magby use a light ember of those leaves!" Billy yelled.

"WHAT? Don't do that! You'll burn the leaves up!" I shouted in disbelief.

"Just trust me on this!" Billy shouted back. Magby fired an ember on the leaves making them like flaming comets. Surprisingly they didn't burn the leaves at all making me gape.

"Snivy use-" Monica began.

"Leave this to me!" Adam cried arrogantly cutting her off. "Ponyta use Fire spin to burn those leaves up!" Ponyta stomped its hoof in determination unleashing a Fire Spin which burnt up most of the fire leaves. However, it missed some of them and they hit the Snivy making it cry out in pain.

"Hey!" Monica cried.

"Sorry Monica…" Adam apologised sheepishly.

"Whatever… Snivy use-"

"Ponyta use Flame Charge!" Adam yelled cutting her off again.

"Would you stop cutting me off?" Monica yelled in irritation.

"My Pokémon is the better then yours! It has a type advantage and could probably just take out the Magby just as easily! Just leave this to me!" Adam cried confidently. Ponyta was surrounded by fire as it charged forwards.

"Hoppip use Bullet seed on its legs to trip it up!" I ordered. Hoppip unleashed a load of bullet seed attack onto one of the Ponyta's legs making it topple over.

"Now Magby use Flamethrower to sweep the field!" Magby jumped up and unleashed a huge Flamethrower knocking Snivy out and making Ponyta cry with pain.

"Snivy!" Monica cried in despair before returning her Pokémon.

"Ponyta stand up!" Adam yelled desperately as his Ponyta tried to struggle to its feet.

"Hoppip use Tackle attack!"

"Magby finish it with Fire Punch!" My Hoppip ran forwards slamming the Ponyta back towards the ground where Magby was waiting to hit it with a Fire Punch knocking it out.

"Billy and Paula win!" Matt announced making all the children cheer as Adam and Monica looked at the ground in disappointment.

"Why did we lose? I don't get it…." Adam asked his eyes filling with tears.

"It's because you guys didn't work as a team." Matt explained making the kids look up him. "While it is true your Pokémon did have the advantage you shouldn't sacrifice your teammate's moves just because of it. Every Pokémon in a battle is important. If you had let Monica get a word in edgeways she might have been able to pin down Billy and Paula's team with a Vine whip while you finished them with Flamethrower. There are many ways this battle could have turned out." Matt explained seriously.

"I didn't think…" Adam said sadly "Sorry Monica…"

"I guess it's ok…" Monica replied hesitantly.

"Well making mistakes is an important part of learning as well." Matt said shrugging with a small smile. "But don't forget next time you guys are TEAM Playschool after all."

"Right." They said in unison nodding.

"That reminds me…." I began. "how did you know that Magby wouldn't burn up the leaves?"

"Well I figured it the fire types can control themselves well enough not to burn a human the leaves shouldn't be a problem either… even if they are a lot more flammable." Billy explained.

"We still have time for one more battle…" Matt mused looking at his watch. "Does anyone else want to battle?"

"You should battle against Billy!" Monica cried happily.

"I'm alright with that if you are!" Billy cried eagerly.

"Erm…" Matt said hesitantly.

"Battle! Battle! Battle!" All the kids chanted.

"Alright! Alright! We'll battle!" Matt said throwing his hands into the air making all the kids cheer. "But don't say I didn't warn you about battling me with less than six Badges." Matt said smirking. "We'll have a 3 VS 3 match because there's not much time left… if you win you can have this!" He said holding out his necklace and pointing to the multicoloured spiral at the end. "The Abnormal badge!"

"Abnormal?" Aurora questioned out loud. "But you use Normal types… so how does that make any sense?"

"How DOESN'T it make any sense?" Matt said with a wink. "What is weird? What is normal? How do we know what is perfection? When do we stop improving ourselves?" Matt questioned making all of us confused. "Those are the thoughts I had when I was thinking of my badge… everything that we consider to be normal someone else might find to be strange and confusing…. A spiral is a symbol of change, of movement but it is also a shape. A spiral can be different things to different people but it is still a spiral."

"I suppose I understand… but at the same time I don't…" Billy stated frowning in confusion.

"Well don't worry about it if you don't understand." Matt said shrugging. "Ditto I need you for battle!" Matt cried releasing a pink blob like Pokémon.

"Wow a Ditto! I've always wanted one of those!" Luke cried happily getting his camera out.

"Li- Oh wait I can't use her…" Billy said to himself.

"Do you fancy battling in my place?" Liz whispered to the Pichu by her feet making it shake its head rapidly.

"Let's get going Laura!" Billy cried releasing his Shellder.

"Ditto use Transform!" Matt ordered quickly making his Ditto shine and change shape until in its place was a Shellder.

"Laura use Icicle Spear!"

"Counter with your own Icicle Spear!" Matt yelled. Ditto and Laura both fired large icicles at each other cancelling out each other's attack.

"Use BubbleBeam!" Billy yelled

"Ditto pop those bubbles with Icicle Spear and then use Clamp!" Laura released a huge stream of bubbles straight towards Ditto. Ditto fired several small Icicle Spears popping all the bubbles. Ditto then jumped high into the air its shell opened wide.

"Laura quick use Withdraw!" Billy yelled making Laura hide in her shell as Ditto clamped onto it causing no damage to her.

"Change back into a Ditto!" Matt yelled causing his Ditto to shine again until it was pink blob again. "Now go inside the shell and transform back into a Shellder!" Ditto easily slid into the shell because it was like liquid. When about half of it was inside in began to shine and turn back into a Shellder forcing Laura's shell open. "Now close range Icicle Spear!" Ditto fired a powerful Icicle Spear at Laura sending both of them flying backwards due to the power.

"Laura!" Billy cried in despair staring at his fainted Pokémon. "You tried your best…" Billy said sadly returning her.

"You did well Ditto." Matt said smiling as his Pokémon transformed back into a pink blob.

"It's your turn Steve!" Billy cried releasing his Eevee.

"Using a Normal type against a Normal type gym leader!" Matt said laughing. "You can relax for this battle Ditto this one has got this covered." Matt said holding up a different Poké ball making Ditto smirk and climb onto Matt's shoulder. "Go Eevee!" Matt cried releasing a silver Eevee.

"It's a shiny Eevee!" Bubbles said gasping. "Just like y- I mean- just like the one you have Luke!"

"Not exactly the same…" Luke said taking a few pictures.

"You want to continue?" Matt asked raising his eyebrow while his Eevee started licking its paws as it was bored with the battle.

"Of course!" Billy cried in determined as Steve growled as his opponent. "Steve let's use Quick Attack!"

"Eevee use Attract!" Steve dashed forwards in a white light as the silver Eevee winked making hearts fly out and hit Steve making him stop in his tracks.

"Steve what's wrong?" Billy questioned Steve as he began nuzzling up against the silver Eevee.

"Attract affects any Pokémon of the opposite gender and makes them fall in love!" Matt explained "It's a very good strategy to use against any Pokémon which isn't the same gender as yours!" Matt said to the pre-schoolers.

"Steve snap out of it! That's the enemy!" Billy yelled in desperation as Steve continued to nuzzle against the other Eevee.

"Eevee use Return!" the silver Eevee began to glow and released a huge amount of energy blasting Steve away.

"Steve!" Billy cried horrified as his Eevee stood up on shaking legs. "You alright?" He asked making Steve nod. "Alright then use Take down!" Steve began to run forwards slowly not becoming attracted to the Eevee like he had done before.

"Eevee dodge it." Matt ordered casually making his Eevee dash out of the way before Steve got close.

"It's fast!" Billy cried in amazement.

"Now Return again!" the silver Eevee dashed up to Steve and unleashed a powerful return attack before he had a chance to react sending him flying again and knocking him out.

"Steve…" Billy said in disappointment before returning him. "You did well…"

"You know Billy…" Matt began. "The mark of truly good trainers is to know when you've reached your limits. When winning becomes an impossibility and the cost of victory is too much."

"I know…" Billy said sadly hanging his head. "But if I don't try to win I'm never going to! That's why… I'll put my hopes on my last Pokémon! Let's get going Kyra!"

"What an idiot!" Liz cried in disbelief as Billy's Kadabra appeared. "Releasing her in the middle of a school!"

"Why? What is it? What's wrong?" Aurora questioned in confusion.

"You'll see…" Luke said ominously putting his camera away. "Just be prepared…"

"Eevee you can have a break." Matt said as his Eevee ran to his feet. "Go Porygon-Z!" he cried as his Porygon-Z materialised out of nowhere.

"The one time that Pokémon appears in battle and I can't take pictures…" Luke said sulking sadly as his Umbreon nuzzled against him to try and comfort him.

"Okay Kyra-" Billy began as Kyra's eyes began to change blue. "Hey wait I didn't order anything yet!" All the children began to be lifted into the air and surrounded Kyra.

"Help us!" they all cried.

"Kyra put them down!" Billy yelled running up to her before he was lifted into the air as well.

"_I have no more use of you Boy."_ Kyra spoke to us all in our minds as she surrounded us with psychic energy. _"At last…"_ She said grinning to herself. _"I can sense HIS energy. I will have my revenge!"_ She cried before teleporting away making everyone fall to the ground.

"Can somebody explain what just happened?" Matt questioned in disbelief.

"I think Kyra's finally run away…" I spoke in disbelief.

"No way…" Billy spoke his voice filled with shock. "Kyra… ran away?"

"Well teleported away as the case may be…" Liz said gaping.

"Shut up Liz!" Billy roared at her. "I don't need your sarcasm right now!"

"I wasn't trying to be sarcastic…." Liz stated in disbelief. Billy ignored her and started pacing angrily. "I'm might be the next to run away if he's not careful." Liz muttered glaring at Billy as he marched on unaware.

"Liz. Calm down." Luke said to her. "I know your upset but don't take it out on Billy. He's upset as well."

"KYRA!? Where did you go?" Billy shouted into the forest.

"Billy…" Matt said softly placing a hand on his shoulder. "She's gone…"

"No way… I know she didn't like me…. but it seems a bit sudden to just to disappear…" Billy said in disbelief.

"She said something about revenge didn't she?" I asked.

"Revenge on who? And where?" Luke questioned in disbelief.

"It has to be near here." Matt said. "There's only so far a Pokémon can teleport. The nearest city is obviously Celadon. I don't think she would go back to anywhere you've been. I mean if she wanted revenge in one of those places she probably would have left a lot sooner."

"Then we go to Celadon." Billy said standing up in determination. "I'm sorry Matt we're going to have to leave you to look after the kids by yourself again."

"It's ok. I understand." Matt said shaking Billy's hand. "When you get Kyra back we'll have another battle. Just one more thing…" Matt said picking up the Hoppip I was using. "Paula would you take this Hoppip with you? It seems to like you and it's always useful to have more Pokémon. Plus because it can't fly it will be easy prey if I release it back into the wild."

"Um… sure thank you." I said picking up the Hoppip and Matt passed me its Poké ball.

"Take care of yourselves." Matt said looking at all of us.

"Next time you see us we will have Kyra back." Billy said trying to look confident but instead he just looked like he was about to be sick.

"I know." Matt said nodding. "Remember its more than a Poké ball that can connect a Pokémon to its trainer."

"Don't worry I'm sure you'll find your Pokémon." Monica and Adam said to Billy making him nod.

"Let's go." Billy said in determination as a tear rolled down his cheek. None of us said anything. We just walked silently behind him as he attempted to hold his head up.

_**Twist style ending! No but you probably won't see Kyra again for a few more chapters…. Not that she appeared much in the first place but still… Feel free to guess where's she's gone and who she's getting revenge on… I won't say if any of your theories are correct though.**_

_**I really liked the new gym leader I was debating whether to let Matt travel with the group or not but the group's probably too big as it is… in case you forgot the multicoloured spiral will be the design of the eighth badge and it is the Abnormal badge. I couldn't think of a better name for it…**_

_**In case you guys didn't guess I've decided not to do the 'gone with the wind' chapter because I really didn't feel like it. The plot was basically the Hoppip can't fly it befriends Paula, learns to fly but then instead of migrating to another region it decides to stay with Paula. The Hoppip she was given was based on that story but at the end it still can't fly… but I'll address that problem another time. And In case you're wondering the Hoppip is male and his name is Robert but I didn't really get a chance to show his personality a lot.**_

_**Now here's my dilemma… the next chapter was originally meant to be a Pokémon only chapter but because I made Kyra pull her disappearing act I highly doubt the group is going to be willing to go 'oh let's release all our Pokémon and do nothing at all for a day instead of looking for Kyra' I'll probably have tweak the plot a bit if I still want to do a Pokémon only chapter or save it for later. Sorry for my rubbish attempt at romance in the last chapter I can only pray I might get better in time if I decide to do more romance in my story. **_


	42. Pokémon and the Poacher

Disclaimer- You know what? Forget this I won't do these any more unless it's for a character I don't own.

Pokémon and the poacher

**Shadow's POV**

"You nearly ready to go?" Luke questioned me grinning. "We've got another long day of hiking ahead of us…."

"Don't remind me." I said sighing "I know we have to find Kyra but this pace is just torture…"

"I know…" Luke said patting my head. "But I'd be acting in the exact same way if you, Blaze or Harry went missing… I know Paula, Bubbles and Aurora would as well."

"Well I'm ready…. But I'm not too sure the same can be said about the other Pokémon…." I said looking amongst the group.

"Felicity come back here!" Alice cried chasing Felicity with her hanky in her hand.

"Noooo! Not the hanky of doom! Somebody save me!" Felicity cried desperately hiding behind Paula's legs.

"Felicity with haven't got time for this we have to leave in a few minutes!" Paula shouted while packing a few pots and pans away.

"Sorry Paula…" Felicity said sadly her ears drooping.

"Got you mucky pup!" Alice cried grabbing onto Felicity and cleaning the muck off Felicity.

"Nooooo!" she cried in despair trying to escape.

"Come on Robert it's easy." Sparky said patting the quivering Hoppip on the back.

"H-how would you know? It's not like either of you guys are flying types…" Robert stammered looking at the fairly high rock that he was meant to jump off.

"Yer but the only flying type we do have can't speak so it's up to us to help you get over your fear of heights." Sparkette said smiling. "All you have to is jump and instinct should take over. Even if it doesn't we're not high enough that you'll hurt yourself." Harry fluttered over and flew in front of the three Pokémon. "See Harry's even showing you how it's done!"

"Either that or he's mocking me." Robert said looking at the Hoothoot and then and then at ground. "I just can't do it!" The Pichus looked at each other and nodded in unison.

"Push!" They cried pushing Robert over the edge.

"Ahhhhh!" Robert cried before landing flat on his face. "Uhhh…" He groaned rolling onto his back.

"He didn't even glide slightly…" Sparkette said peering over the edge.

"Maybe we need a different method." Sparky mused.

"I could probably make an illusion of there being no jump if it will help!" Adolfo offered from Aurora's shoulder.

"No… no more flying methods…" Robert groaned slowly getting onto all fours. "I think I'll just spend the rest of my life walking thanks..." He moaned walking slowly away.

"Sparky, Sparkette we're leaving now!" Bubbles called.

"Ah we'll discuss more flying methods later okay?" Sparkette questioned not giving Robert a chance to answer before the two of them ran away.

"I don't think I can take much more…." Robert said collapsing to the ground again.

"Don't give up I'm sure you'll get it one day." I said trying to comfort him.

"I'll probably die before then if those two carry on like this…" Robert said "Especially if Adolfo starts making my life confusing with his illusions."

"I remember my first trainer… I thought she'd never learn to swim because she had a fear of putting her head under the water but one day she managed to swim and I couldn't be more proud. After that we swam together all the time." Alice said smiling fondly.

"I bet when your trainer was learning to swim there was no jumping of high places though…" Robert muttered.

"Well actually…" Alice began

"You guys we really have to go!" Paula called.

"We'll have to save that story for another time." Alice said smiling just before she and Robert were returned into their Poké balls.

"Come on Shadow!" Luke called and I ran to his side quickly while Harry fluttered onto Luke's shoulder.

**Later…**

"That is the last time we are ever walking through anything known as 'The Cave of Viscous Dragons'!" Liz announced angrily.

"But Kyra might have been in there!" Billy argued.

"She also might have been on the perfectly safe path right next to it." Liz pointed out.

"You're right!" Billy cried in realisation. "We have to go back through the cave and check the other path!"

"No!" We all (including us Pokémon which might have been slightly pointless) cried in unison.

"I'm sure if Kyra was on the other path she would have felt our pain and despair and then have gone somewhere else." Liz said bluntly.

"Besides it's too late to go back and explore now." Luke said looking at the setting sun. "Soon we won't be able to see our hands in front of our faces never mind Kyra."

"I guess your right…"Billy admitted sadly.

"Cheer up I'm sure we'll find her." Bubbles said optimistically.

"Yer…" Billy said sadly releasing all his Pokémon for some fresh air and something to eat. Paula and Luke mimicked his actions while Sparkette, Sparky and Adolfo just jumped to the floor.

"Y dontah ee ever stoph ner mortar?" Laura asked sadly.

"We really need to get you a translator… or a water stone." Steve said sighing.

"She said 'why don't we ever stop near water?'" Alice said sighing "I agree with her I could really use a good swim right now."

"If anything we stop near water too often!" Blaze said stretching out his tail. "We never have a nice sleep in a volcano or anything like that…"

"oesn't ound ice too e." Laura said frowning slightly. Harry happily flew into one of the trees and puffed up his feathers.

"At least one of us is happy…" Adolfo said looking at the Hoothoot.

"I thought you lived in the forest?" Sparky pointed out.

"Yes inside a cave or a tree hollow I never slept in the actual trees." Adolfo said looking around the forest.

"Well you're missing out!" Sparkette said happily climbing up the tree and joining Harry. "Sleeping in trees is the best!"

"There's the very lovely 'Cave of Viscous Dragons' not too far away if you fancy sleeping in there." Liz pointed out making Adolfo go pale.

"Did I ever mention how much I love sleeping in forests? Especially in trees." He said quickly making us laugh. Soon we had a filling dinner of Poké kibble and we were all about ready for a good night's rest. _Beep! Beep! Beep!_

"What's that noise?" Liz asked sleepily.

"It's my Pokédex…" Billy said in amazement flipping it open. _'Attention trainer/trainers! There is a report of a Pokémon poacher being close to your area.'_

"The Pokédex is tracking us?" Paula interrupted in disbelief. _'Please keep all Pokémon in their Poké balls or close to your person. Please note if your Pokémon do get stolen we cannot replace them. However, if you are a victim of this crime please phone the police straight away so that they can track down this criminal. When the criminal is brought to justice all Pokémon will be return to their owners unless we are unable to do so. This message was broadcasted by: The Ranger Base Kanto.'_ The Pokédex finished.

"Mama I'm scared…" Daniel said hugging Liz's leg.

"I heard a poacher will pay a lot of money for a Cubone's skull." Blaze said making Daniel burst into tears.

"I appreciate your help." Liz said bitterly glaring at Blaze with sarcasm evident in her voice. She picked up the small Cubone and tried to comfort him.

"I hate poachers." Alice said angrily making us all turn to her in surprise. "All they ever do is cause pain."

"We should probably do what the Pokédex suggested." Paula said "We wouldn't want to lose any other Pokémon…" She said throwing a worried look towards Billy.

"Yer your right." Billy said returning his team. "I think I'll keep my belt on tonight… no matter how uncomfortable." Paula and Luke returned all of their Pokémon (expect me obviously)

"Sorry guys you'll have to share the sleeping bag with me." Bubbles said to her Pokémon. "No sleeping in trees."

"Aww…" Sparkette said and climbed down from the tree and crawled into Bubbles' sleeping bag with Sparky following her.

"I'm not too sure if I'll fit into your sleeping bag…" I pointed out to Luke. Luke was the tallest member of our group (not saying much because most of the group weren't fully grown) and although I wasn't a massive Pokémon I knew we'd be uncomfortable if we were in one sleeping bag.

"Well… I suppose you can sleep besides me like you normally do… just make a lot of noise if you hear anything suspicious even if you think it's nothing to worry about." Luke said with worry clear on his face.

"I'll be careful." I promised. With that settled we all apprehensively settled down for the night.

"Maybe we should take shifts keeping watch…" Aurora suggested. "Just in case…"

"Can I sleep in the Cave of Viscous Dragons now?" Adolfo whimpered with fear. "I'm paranoid I'm going to wake up and I'll be looking at Question Mark's face again..."

"You rather face dragons then Question Mark?" Sparky asked in disbelief.

"Trust me if you had been captured by him you'd want to sleep in the dragon's cave as well." Adolfo said shuddering. "I bet this poacher will be just the same…"

"Relax Adolfo." Luke said crawling out of his sleeping bag. "I'll take the first watch and we'll all take turns during the night. So just try and get some sleep okay?"

"Thanks Luke." Adolfo said grinning.

"Make a lot of noise if you hear anything suspicious." I told him sternly repeating his words. "Even if you think it's nothing to worry about... maybe I should stay awake with you."

"Shadow I can see you're shattered. Get some sleep." Luke said patting my head.

"Okay but if you get into any trouble make as much noise as possible." I repeated before falling asleep.

**Later…**

"Uhhh… Where are we?" I heard Felicity question. I was still too tired and didn't open my eyes.

"Where's mama?" I heard Daniel sobbing and I silently groaned. All I wanted to do was sleep!

"Daniel please don't cry!" I heard Alice cry "I'm sure we'll get out of this!"

"Hey Shadow's not waking up! Shadow! Shadow wake up!" Blaze cried with worry shaking my shoulder rapidly forcing me to open my eyes.

"Blaze? What's going on? Why are you out of you Poké ball?" I questioned him.

"It's not just me!" Blaze cried as if he was trying to defend himself. "Everyone is! And we're in some kind of cage!" I took a quick look around and released he was right.

"Break already!" Sparky cried in annoyance as he, Sparkette, Adolfo and Nicolas attempted to break the bars. Snap!

"My horn!" Nicolas cried in despair "My precious horn! Ruined!"

"Wow Nicolas isn't speaking in ye old English. Things must be bad." Steve said grinning slightly.

"Have you been taking sarcasm lessons of Liz again?" Felicity asked him in disbelief.

"Dontah worrhee ita ill gow ack." Laura said trying to comfort Nicolas.

"I don't wanna be in a cage!" Daniel said bursting into tears.

"There there… keep calm Daniel there's bound to be a way out…" Alice said patting his back.

"I can't believe he's older than me." Felicity said gaping at Daniel.

"What? He's older?" Robert said in surprise.

"How did we get in here in the first place?" I asked the others

"Maybe Luke fell asleep on duty." Steve said with a shrug.

"Luke would never do that!" I growled fiercely "and wait… how did you know Luke was on guard duty?"

"I'm not too sure…" Steve realised frowning making Adolfo gasp.

"I'm such an idiot!" Adolfo cried suddenly. "It was an illusion! I can't believe I didn't sense it!"

"What do you mean? What was an illusion?" I questioned him.

"If I'm right everything after Billy listened to the message on his Pokédex was an illusion. The Pokémon never went inside their Poké balls we only thought they did because it was illusion! When we went to sleep we didn't realise that we actually weren't safe! And when Luke was the only one left awake another illusion was probably put upon him to make him think nothing was happening when in reality all the Pokémon were being stolen! We only came back to reality when we woke up in the cage!" Adolfo cried pacing around the cage. "Whoever did this must have a Zoroark and a powerful one as well… I can't believe a member of my own species would stoop so low…"

"But surely if it was a Zoroark it would have sensed Aurora was a Zoura as well and she'd be in here…" Alice said looking around.

"The Zoroark, when it was stealing us, must have done an illusion so in our eyes and in Luke's eyes everything stayed the same. That means it was probably tricked by its own illusion in making Aurora look in the same it was fooled into thinking she actually was a human." Adolfo said in realisation. "It must be pretty powerful but pretty stupid."

"But it has to be working for someone." Sparky pointed out. "A Pokémon can't build a cage powerful enough to keep us all contained. "

"I bet you a million fire stones we've been captured by that poacher!" Blaze cried out his tail fire burning brightly.

"I don't want my skull taken!" Daniel cried out again.

"Nobody's going to take your skull!" Felicity cried in determination "As your older sister I won't let them near you!" Felicity said smiling at Daniel making him smile back happily.

"You're the younger one…" Everyone else (bar Felicity and Daniel) said in unison.

"You should be careful as well Felicity." Alice said with worry. "The poacher can sell Growlithe fur for a lot of money." She said grimly making Felicity go pale.

"Don't worry Felicity!" Steve called arrogantly. "You protect Daniel and I'll protect you! It's my duty as an older brother!"

"I don't need your protection!" Felicity snapped. "I can take care of myself! Besides Eevees are just as rare if not more so then Growlithes so you're not exactly safe either! And you're not my brother!" Felicity cried making Steve sulk.

"Shot down." Blaze said sniggering.

"Can we please go back to the part where we make a plan and escape?" Sparkette begged.

"Right." I said nodding. "First we obviously need to get out this cage. Then we defeat whoever's holding us captured and get back to the camp before sunrise." I said as Harry started tapping his beak on the rails in Morse code. "Why sunrise you ask?" I checked making the Hoothoot nod. "Well I think if Billy wakes up and finds all his Pokémon missing he won't be able to handle it. He's already lost Kyra. Second if they wake up and find us missing they're bound to come searching for us which will be dangerous as they only have Aurora, Bubbles, Liz and Luke for protection."

"So how do we escape? We have already used brute force and that was unsuccessful." Nicolas said sadly pointing to his horn.

"Hmm… let's search for a weak point. Harry you check the ceiling because you can fly." I said making Harry nod and fly upwards. "The rest of us will just check the bars and the floor. Steve see if you can dig through it and Felicity and Blaze see if you can melt the bars." I said making everyone nod as we looked around the cage. After 5 minutes of searching we heard an unfamiliar voice snigger.

"You guys really think you're getting out?" A Zoroark said appearing of nowhere. "You better save your strength your new masters won't be as generous with food as your old ones."

"You!" Blaze cried in anger. "Wait… who are you?"

"I'm the Zoroark you guys were talking about earlier you idiot!" the Zoroark snapped angrily.

"You're a traitor to your species." Adolfo said growling at the Pokémon.

"I do what I can to survive." The Zoroark said shrugging. "It's all about survival of the fittest kid. One day you'll learn that. But probably not any time soon… a couple of weeks with the highest bidder should knock it into you."

"Zoroark! Don't bother the merchandise!" A man snapped appearing out of the forest with several flying types in a net making Harry flap his wings angrily. The man threw the net into a similar cage to ours locking the door as he did. "That should be a good enough haul for now…" the man said looking around. "We should get moving in the morning otherwise the police and those rangers will pick up our trail."

"All the more reason to escape as soon as possible…" I muttered softly.

"Anyway you watch the Pokémon make sure they don't try anything funny." The man said glaring at us. "I'm going to contact some collectors. I'm sure they'll be excited to hear I have an Umbreon and an Eevee… It's a pity one of them isn't female then we'd be sitting on a fortune." The man said before walking a short distance away with a phone in his hand.

"I don't even want to think about what he just said." Steve said pulling a face.

"Silence shrimps!" The Zoroark barked "You're not allowed to talk to each other just encase your simple minds can come up with an escape plan!" he taunted leaning close to the cage.

"Sleep Powder!" Robert cried releasing dust into Zoroark's face making him cough and sneeze until he collapsed into a slumber.

"Great job!" Sparky and Sparkette cried in unison patting Robert on the back.

"I hate to break up a celebration but we've got to escape before that man comes back!" Alice cried in distress.

"Our fire type moves aren't affecting the cage at all." Felicity and Steve said in disappointment.

"I can't dig through it either." Steve said.

"You find any weakness?" I asked Harry who shook his head.

"I ont ink dis will end well…" Laura muttered hiding in her shell. I stared at her for a while before staring at the bars.

"Blaze or Alice pick her up!" I cried quickly.

"Wa?" Laura attempted to question before she was picked up by Blaze.

"Now what?" He questioned.

"Laura might be small enough to fit through the bars if she stays in her shell!" I said in realisation. "As long as Laura keeps her shell closed as tightly as possible I think she'll be thin enough."

"alrgh." Laura said nodding. "ell giv it a try… eye eed my ell open oo eath ough so e canr iii for to ong." Laura attempted to explain.

"Sorry can you repeat that?" I said cringing making Harry roll his eyes and start tapping on the ground. "Oh she needs her shell open to breathe… well we can't try this for more than a minute then. Alice and Blaze you lift her up and push her through as you two have the closest things to hands." I said quickly making Alice join Blaze as the two of them grabbed Laura's shell and she clamped it shut. "Go!" I order as the two of them tried to force Laura through the cage. The awkward thing about Shellders is that they have quite a weird shape so it took a lot of pushing and shifting until finally Laura fell onto the grass on the other side.

"Yes!" we all whispered being careful not the wake the Zoroark up.

"Now all you have to do now get us the key and maybe defeat the poacher." Blaze said grinning.

"al y yelf?!" Laura asked in fear.

"Well it's not like any of us can help you." Steve said looking around the cage.

"But ima not a ery ood attler…" Laura said hesitantly.

"Who said you're not?" Adolfo asked

"Ell eye avent won ince illy caugh e." Laura pointed out.

"Lady Laura you listen to me!" Nicolas shouted making us all jump.

"Shush keep it down Nicolas!" Felicity hissed.

"I know you want to deliver an epic speech but don't wake up the Zoroark!" Sparky whispered pointing at the still sleeping Zoroark.

"Sorry…" Nicolas said whispering. "But Lady Laura I happen to know you're an excellent duellist as I battled you myself!"

"Laura can do it!" Daniel cheered.

"Ohey…" Laura said quietly making us cheer silently as she bounced away.

"I know Laura's going to save us all." Blaze began looking at the bouncing Shellder. "But can't she move any faster?"

"If you think this is bad if Laura ever evolves your going to be wishing she was a Shellder again." Alice said looking at Blaze.

"Hmmm… what's going on?" The Zoroark asked sleepily opening his eyes only to get hit in the face with another sleep powder making him fall asleep again. Laura bounced up to the key which was on a sleeping Houndoom not too far away. Laura carefully grabbed the key with her tongue trying not to wake the Pokémon up. She managed it easily making us all grin as she turned to bounce away. The Houndoom opened its eyes making us all gape with horror as it began to growl. Laura spun around again a fired a powerful Water Pulse attack sending the Houndoom flying into a nearby cage.

"I told you she t'was a fierce fighter!" Nicolas said proudly as Laura bounced back towards us.

"Eye ound da eee!" Laura whispered bouncing up to the cage with the key dangling from her tongue.

"Brilliant!" I whispered. "Now somebody with hands can let us out!" Blaze grabbed the key from Laura (wiping some of the spit from it first) and walked over to the lock.

"I can't reach it!" He whispered stretching.

"Let us help!" Sparky and Sparky whispered over in unison running over to him. Sparkette climbed onto his out stretched arm and grabbed the key holding it upwards while Sparky climbed on her head. Sparkette slowly passed the key upwards as Sparky pushed it into the lock before turning it. The door swung open just as the poacher reappeared.

"Zoroark!" He snapped making his Pokémon snap awake. "I thought I told you to watch them!" he roared as we ran out of the cage.

"I'll get them back don't you worry!" Zoroark said growling at us as another cage dropped out of nowhere imprisoning us again.

"No way…" I muttered in disbelief. After all that effort…

"Don't be fooled!" Adolfo snapped. "It's another illusion!" He cried as the cage began appearing and disappearing into thin air.

"You think you can win an illusion battle against me boy?" The Zoroark half-growled half-sniggered as the cage began to look solid again. "I've defeated some of the great illusion masters!"

"It's true that while I might not be an illusion master like a Zoroark or even Aurora… I can still fight!" Adolfo growled making the cage disappear for a second as he leapt at the Zoroark biting him on the tail making the cage disappear completely.

"My tail! My tail!" The Zoroark whimpered trying to shake off Adolfo.

"Zoroark show that Zorua its place!" The poacher cried angrily.

"We've got to help as well!" I yelled

"Got it!" Sparky and Sparkette said in unison before running towards the other cage.

"You're going the wrong way!" Steve cried.

"Just keep them busy!" Sparkette yelled.

"Take this!" I cried tackling into the Zoroark making him slide backwards.

"Go Pokémon!" The poacher cried releasing a Weavile, a Golbat, and an Arbok.

"Four against eleven?" Blaze questioned while cracking his knuckles. "This should be easy."

"Don't count your Pokémon before they're caught." Alice warned gravely.

"Go!" The poacher cried making his Pokémon charge towards us. They seemed undaunted by the fact that there was more of us than them.

"Blaze and Felicity go for the Weavile! Harry and Robert go for the Golbat. The rest of you go for the Arbok or one of the others!" I yelled.

"I think you've forgotten that I can't fly!" Robert cried with fear until Harry picked him up and flew towards the Golbat. "Harry! Put me down! Put me down! Put me down!" Robert begged kicking the air wildly. Adolfo and I continued to attack the Zoroark. He slashed at me making me jump back a meter. Adolfo let go of the Zoroark's tail and fired a Snarl attack blowing the Zoroark back slightly. The Zoroark roared in anger and charged at him only to be knocked back by Nicolas's poison sting attack. I took a quick glance to see how the others were doing. Harry (with Robert as an unwilling passenger) was having an epic air battle with the Golbat as each tired to get the upper hand. Robert fired a powerful razor leaf at the Golbat making it wince with pain. The Golbat quickly recovered and was about to fire a powerful air slash at the two of them when it was suddenly knocked to the ground by a powerful water gun/water pulse attack. Alice and Laura grinned at each other just as the Arbok tried to attack them from behind Steve came through the ground hitting it with a powerful dig and Daniel wacked it with a bone club attack. Felicity and Blaze were using fire move after fire move on the Weavile but it was too fast hitting them both with a night slash attack. Blaze used a flamethrower attack on Felicity boosting the power of her fire type moves as she fired a powerful fire spin towards the Weavile engulfing it in flames.

"You haven't won yet!" The poacher growled seeing that we were defeating his Pokémon.

"Oh yes we have!" Sparky and Sparkette cried in unison releasing the flying types that the poacher had captured earlier from their cage. The poacher and his Pokémon were suddenly overwhelmed by flying types pecking them.

"Get off me you stupid birds!" the poacher cried trying to swat them away as they pushed him and his Pokémon towards the cage. As soon as they were in we quickly turned the key locking them inside the cage.

"We did it we escaped!" Everyone cried happily. I looked at the sky and noticed it was turning an orangey-red colour.

"It's nearly sunrise!" I alerted everyone making them gasp.

"Do you think you could release any of the other Pokémon that have been captured?" Alice questioned a nearby Pidgey. "And find the police or a ranger and tell them where he is?" she asked pointing to the poacher making the Pidgey nod. "Well then could we leave that with you cause we really have to go!" Alice said quickly making the Pidgey nod again.

"Let's hurry then!" Steve cried desperately running ahead.

"omeody ick e up!" Laura begged making Blaze pick her up again. Harry flew upwards looking for our camp and we all ran after him quickly. Within minutes we had found the camp and we all cheered happily as the humans (well Aurora doesn't really count as a human) looked at us with surprise.

"Where have you guys been?" Bubbles question hugging Sparky and Sparkette with relief. "I was watching over you one minute and the next minute you were gone!"

"The Zoroark must have kept up the illusion here all this time so that everyone wouldn't get suspicious." Adolfo deduced. "But when we trapped him and that poacher in that cage it must have worn off."

"Poacher?!" Everyone (well expect Billy and Paula who just looked confused) asked in surprise. I explained the whole story to everyone making them gape with surprise.

"I should have detected the illusion… things could have ended much worse…" Aurora said clenching her fist and looking at her brother with tears in her eyes.

"But they didn't Aurora." Adolfo said grinning "We're all safe and everything's fine now. Besides I didn't detect anything either." Aurora let out a sob and pulled her brother close.

"I'm glad you guys are safe..." Paula said to her Pokémon making Felicity and Robert jump on her happily while Alice smiled softly.

"You guys came back… I thought you might have left… like Kyra…" Billy admitted softly trying not to cry as his Pokémon jumped on him as well.

"I knew you'd come back." Luke said hugging me, Harry and Blaze (who struggled to get away trying to act like a tough guy).

"Of course Master Luke we always will come back." I said making my teammates nod happily. We all sat around the campfire enjoying each other's company and getting some much needed rest. We had had enough adventures for one day…

_**Awww… I'm really glad I wrote about the Pokémon I've wanted to do it for a while now. I defiantly am going to do some basically Pokémon only chapters in the future though. :D I think Shadow would basically be the leader of the Shocks and Static Pokémon because everyone respects him. Plus he's one of the strongest Pokémon. The next leader would probably be Alice because everyone also respects her and she's wise. I'm going to do a chapter maybe not in Alice's POV but defiantly about her one day. **_

_**Next chapter will be the big city (finally!) There will be another Pokémon contest (don't you love those things) so just say if you want your character to compete and they might make a spontaneous appearance. (Not Red though sorry he's too far away) If I don't get enough characters I'll either A) make a few up. B) Have a few appearances from old characters like Paula's rival (she hasn't appeared properly in a while actually...) and that guy from the last contest who wanted Liz to travel with him (yes he will be a recurring character) C) Get Bubbles and Aurora to compete as well. Actually now that I think about it I might do all three of those things… **_


	43. Shocks and static- New Year Special pt1

**Shocks and static- New Year Special!**

**Part 1**

**Author's note-** Bubbles and Aurora won't be in this story sorry :P there's also a point where Liz says Billy has 6 Pokémon I know with Kyra's disappearance he technically has 5 but just go with it.

**Time chaos!**

**Part 1 – The Everlasting forest**

"The Pokémon world! Filled with mysteries beyond comprehension! Perhaps the biggest mystery of all is why the inhabitants of this world is why two creatures have lived in harmony since the dawn of time. Mankind and Pokémon have long travelled together to overcome the great mysteries and struggles of life. Today we continue this harmony and together-"

"IT'S MY TURN TO WATCH THE T.V.!" Suddenly the image on television switched to one of a Buneary and a Pikachu dancing together on ice.

"WE CAN WATCH STRICTLY COME DANCING ON ICE WITH POKÉMON ANYTIME PAULA!" as Billy attempted to snatch the remote off Paula. Billy grabbed the remote back off Paula and switched back to the show he was watching.

"-but what can we achieve with these creatures of unlimited potential? That is perhaps the biggest mystery of all." The credits began scrolling across the screen to a shocked Billy's face.

"Yay! Now we can watch my show!" Paula cried happily while Billy gaped like a fish. He regained his composure when Paula sat down on the chair and switched the channel once more.

"Hey I was watching that!" Billy cried unhappily while Paula hummed on the chair watching the television happily.

"Yes but your show has finished therefore you have nothing to complain about!" Paula replied with a smile.

"I missed the whole thing thanks to you!" Billy cried jumping in front of the television to attract Paula's attention who was trying to see around him.

"It only lasted about ten minutes anyway so you couldn't have missed much." Paula said somewhat annoyed and shoved Billy to the ground so that she could see the television once more.

"It was an important ten minutes! About the relationship between humans and Pokémon! About whether legendaries exist and whether we should use them!" Billy cried getting up from the floor and going in front of the television once more. "Not some stupid dance show that you could have easily missed ten minutes of and it wouldn't have made any difference!"

"It's not stupid it's the finals! This is my only chance to see it before we go back on the road to Everlasting Forest!" Paula shouted and got onto her feet as well.

"The only reason we're going to Everlasting Forest is because you read that it's the best place to watch New Year fireworks!" Billy shouted as his face went red with anger.

"Really? I was under the impression that somebody was acting like a little kid all day yesterday because he was so excited about going to Everlasting Forest!" the two ten year olds stood glaring at each other like sparks were coming out of their eyes.

"What are you two arguing about now?" a slightly bored sounding feminine voice called. Billy and Paula looked towards the doorway simultaneously to see their friend Liz. Billy and Paula began yelling over each other trying to explain the situation but of course Liz couldn't hear what they were trying to say over all the noise they were making so she sighed and rolled her eyes.

"_Why can't these two get along for more than five minutes?" _An Umbreon questioned walking into the room.

"Shadow you should know that's one of the great mysteries of life." Luke said laughing as he came into the room.

"She/he started it!" Billy and Paula cried in unison.

"Of course." Liz said rolling her eyes before glaring. "But I'll finish it if you're not careful." She threatened.

"Sorry…" They both muttered before glaring at each other.

"Come on guys we can't sit around here all day!" Luke cried.

"But I want to watch the strictly finals!" Paula complained.

"You can always watch it later using this amazing invention called the internet." Liz said bluntly.

"You can never use a computer in a Pokémon centre though they're always busy!" Paula complained.

"Well in that case we'll give you a choice." Luke began smirking "Option A we leave you behind to watch the TV while we see the fireworks. Option B we stay while you watch the TV and probably miss the fireworks… or option C you watch the show another time on the internet and we all go to see the fireworks."

"I vote A!" Billy cried quickly making Paula glare at him.

"I'll come…" Paula said standing up and switching off the T.V. The small group left the Pokémon centre a few minutes later and after a few minutes encountered the beginnings of a large forest.

"So why do they call it Everlasting Forest again?" Billy questioned gaping at the size of some of the trees.

"They say this forest has been here since time began." Luke said taking a picture. "The plants are really healthy and unique so it has been around for a long time… but probably not forever."

"How do you know?" Paula asked him frowning.

"It's just isn't possible for a forest to be around forever." Luke said shrugging. "The first forests didn't even form for a few billions years after earth came about plus if it had been around forever the trees would probably be bigger."

"Remind me… when did you see the earth created?" Liz questioned joking making the group laugh. A huge gust of wind began to rush towards them as if it came from the middle of the forest. The wind blasted into them causing Liz and Luke to grab their hats.

"_I'm running out of time…!"_

"You guys hear something?" Liz questioned as the wind past by.

"_Nope sorry…"_ Shadow said, his ears twitching.

"Just the wind," Paula shivered. "it's like it came out of nowhere…"

"I didn't hear anything either…" Luke said as Billy nodded in agreement.

"it was probably my imagination then…" Liz said with a shrug.

"Come on we can't stand gawking in front of the forest all day!" Billy said grinning "We'll get to the festival in Everlasting Forest and then we can properly celebrate the New Year!"

"Right." Everyone agreed in unison as the group walked into the dark forest.

"Now as long as we follow the path we should easily make it to the Firework festival in time!" Luke said looking at his map.

"Lead the way then Luke." Liz said smiling.

"Hey I'm the leader!" Billy protested loudly.

"So you think," Liz said rolling her eyes. "Luke's basically been our leader since he arrived."

"No way!" Billy protested. "Paula tell her I'm the leader!" He whined.

"Sorry I can't argue with Liz's logic this time." Paula said teasing Billy slightly.

"Well seeing as you've basically just named me the leader who says instead of racing around cities in a desperate attempt to challenge gyms and contests we instead go really slow so that I can actually take pictures when I want to!" Luke said half-joking and half-serious.

"Sounds good to me." Liz said shrugging.

"No way!" Billy and Paula both protested loudly causing both Liz and Luke to laugh. Billy folded his arms in annoyance and frowned deeply.

"Just say I'm the leader then we can all move on with our lives." Billy said with annoyance.

"I'm the leader." Liz said, smirking slightly making Luke smile and Paula cheer up.

"That's not what I meant and you well know it!" Billy yelled.

"She's only saying what you asked Billy." Luke said beaming with happiness.

"Yer no point getting all annoyed about it." Paula said joining in. The three of them laughed as Billy frowned.

"Cheer up." Liz said nudging Billy "We're only messing with you." Billy looked like he was about to reply as Paula gasped loudly. They looked ahead to notice that they were in the clearing of the forest. There were lots of people gathered around talking amongst themselves and there were several small market shops, most of which were selling good luck charms or alcohol for the New Year celebrations.

"Well I think we found the festival…" Luke said taking a picture in amazement.

"Welcome! Welcome!" A smiling man cried walking up to the group. He was fairly overweight and was wearing a striped shirt and smart black trousers supported by a belt.

"Ah we don't want to buy anything and we don't have any money to give to charity." Paula blurted out quickly making the man laugh.

"Don't worry about that little missy I'm the person running the festival my name is Jack Frost." Liz gave out a cough that sounded a bit like 'cliché' but Jack ignored her still smiling. "Anyway I'm here to give you this." He said holding out some rubber wrist bands towards the group. Each band had a different number on it and was a different colour.

"What are they?" Billy asked taking a closer look.

"They are this little tradition we have here at Everlasting forest." Jack explained grinning. "A person is chosen at random to light the first bonfire. This will be a sign to light the other bonfires nearby and start the fireworks. You'll notice that the bands have numbers on them?" Jack questioned making the group nod. "If your number is chosen you'll be given the special honour to kick start the fireworks."

"Isn't that a bit dangerous?" Luke questioned frowning "I mean we could accidently set fire to something on the way…"

"That's why we don't let anyone under 10 carry the flame." Jack said smiling. "Most people that come here have their Pokémon with them anyway to protect them and even light the flame for them in some cases. I trust you all have Pokémon with you?"

"Well actually…" Liz began.

"Good!" Jack boomed loudly not listening to her. "Here are your bands." He said pressing a band into each of the group's hands. "I must be off now I see more guests to tend to!" He cried running off before Liz had a chance to protest.

"Give a girl a chance to get a word in edgeways…" Liz muttered in annoyance. "Does anyone want my band?" she offered the yellow band to her friends.

"Really?!" Billy cried in excitement before Paula nudged him firmly.

"You better keep Liz… I mean what are the chances of one of us getting chosen anyway? Besides I'm pretty sure if push came to shove you'd be able to thrash most things in this forest by yourself." Paula said smiling as Luke nodded in agreement. Billy frowned at Paula before nodding in agreement.

"If you're sure." Liz said shrugging and placing it on her wrist. The group explored the festival for a few hours before it was time to select who was going to light the flame.

"It's the moment you've all been waiting for!" Jack cried with excitement. "In this bowl-" Jack pointed to a nearby bowl "are the numbers of everyone currently here. In a moment I shall chose the person who will light the fire and kick start the celebrations!" Jack yelled making everyone clap and cheer. "Now for the moment of truth…" Jack said digging his arm into the bowl and pulling out a slip of paper. "Number 18! Do we have a number 18?!"

"Is that any of you guys?" Billy questioned nervously glancing at his band.

"Nope." Luke said shaking his head.

"Not me." Paula said in disappointment.

"Not me either." Liz said looking neutral about the result.

"Yer it's not me." Billy said sighing in disappointment. "I wanted at least one of us to win but I guess there's just so many people here it's too unlikely."

"_Wrong! Its wrong… the time streams are crossing!"_ A child-like voice cried making Liz look around. It appeared no one else heard making Liz frown.

"Number 18 could you come onto the stage please?" Jack questioned somewhat nervously as the crowd began to mutter between themselves with some re-checking their band number. A man ran onto the stage wearing a shirt that read volunteer and whispered something to Jack's ear. The two whispered furiously for a few minutes before Jack nodded and the volunteer ran off. "It appears number 18 has fallen violently ill… we'll wish them good health for the New Year but for now we need a new torch bearer so without further delay…" Jack said before digging his arm through the numbers.

"Come on 12…" Billy muttered loudly.

"It's…" Jack said looking at the number in his hand. "number 53! Number 53 please come onto the stage!"

"Damn my luck!" Billy yelled loudly throwing his band onto the floor.

"Remind me not to let you gamble in the future..." Luke said sighing also throwing his band onto the floor.

"I guess it's just not meant to be…" Paula sighed while taking off her band and dropping it onto the floor.

"Arceus damn it!" Liz cursed looking at her band. Her friends looked at her curiously and noticed the number 53 clearly visible on it.

"Liz? You won?!" The group questioned loudly making the crowd turn towards them.

"Is it too late to give someone else my band?" Liz questioned nervously as the crowd began cheering.

"Get up there and take your prize!" Various crowd members cried happily dragging Liz to the front stage.

"Well done number 53!" Jack cried happily patting Liz on the shoulder making her flinch.

"Can I switch with number 12?" Liz asked loudly making everyone laugh as they thought it was a joke.

"Here is the ceremonial torch." Jack said placing a flaming torch into Liz's hands. "The bonfire is straight ahead of us on this path, just follow the torches and you'll be fine."

"Right…" Liz said weakly.

"Woo you can do it Liz!" her friends cheered loudly making the crowd start cheering again. Liz swallowed nervously and headed down the dimly light forest path.

"If I die… I'm coming back from the dead and murdering Paula…" Liz muttered to herself using the flaming torch to help her see where she was going. The torches that lit the path seemed to be diming and the crowd's noise was lost into the trees.

"_Lost in time…"_ a voice murmured making Liz look around. She scanned the trees but couldn't see anything.

"And I'm losing my mind… well it was bound to happen eventually from following Billy around…" Liz muttered nervously raising her torch. Despite what Jack had said the light from the torches all but disappeared leaving Liz with the fire as her only light source. Liz nervously headed forwards taking care not to stumble over tree roots. Liz reached a small clearing and she looked around. Ahead of her was a small broken wooden shrine. It looked fairly simple with no fancy decoration expect a picture of a strange Pokémon that Liz didn't recognise. Strangely the little shrine had two doors though Liz couldn't think why this might be. Liz walked towards it and noticed that it was extremely dusty. "I don't think I'm meant to set this on fire…" She murmured to herself placing a hand on the ageing wood.

"_HELP!"_ The child-like voice cried loudly as a powerful wind blasted into Liz knocking her off her feet and extinguishing the fire on the torch. Liz painfully sat upwards not being able to see anything and she could only hear the sound of her own breath. It seemed like eternity passed before Liz heard a loud creaking noise. BANG! It sounded like a door was slammed in anger making Liz flinch. A light began to flicker from inside the shrine and Liz noticed both the small wooden doors had been opened outwards. A blinding light shone out of it making Liz wince and turn away. The light shone for several minutes before flickering out again. Liz cautiously looked towards the shrine and gasped in amazement. Floating before her was a small green fairy like Pokémon which was producing a small light of its own. The Pokémon was unlike anything she had seen before it had small silvery wings on its back but it was clear it could fly without them as the Pokémon wasn't flapping at all but was still in the air. It also had a pair of green antennae that were tipped blue near the end. The Pokémon opened its large baby blue eyes and looked directly at Liz making her breath catch in her throat. _"Elizabeth Payne?"_ It questioned in a child-like voice which sounded neither male nor female.

"Erm…." Liz gaped at the fairy astonished. "No?"

"_It is you!"_ the Pokémon cried happily flying over to her.

"Hang on a second!" Liz said quickly standing up. "Who are you?" the Pokémon pouted in annoyance.

"_Lizzy!"_ The Pokémon whined _"You never remember me! But then again we've only met each other in other time lines or in the future so it's not really surprising…" _The Pokémon said before giggling as if it had said something hilarious.

"Wait! What?" Liz questioned confused making the Pokémon giggle again. "Okay… I think I've found myself an insane Pokémon…" Liz said looking at the Pokémon who was currently flying circles around her laughing. "Right…" Liz said frowning. "Well I better be off then..." She said slowly picking up the burnt out torch. "That bonfire won't light itself…"

"_You can't leave!" _ The Pokémon cried suddenly making Liz flinch. _"You need to help me!"_

"You're better off asking Billy he loves helping people!" Liz said rolling her eyes "I'm sure he won't mind helping you either."

"_You're the best when it comes to helping people."_ The Pokémon said seriously making Liz blink. _"Even if you haven't realised it yet…"_ it murmured softly but Liz didn't appear to hear it.

"Look fairy-thing I haven't really got time to help you right now." Liz stated frowning.

"_Time…"_ the Pokémon said with wide eyes as if Liz had just provided the answer to one of life's greatest questions. _"The time streams are crossing! Collapsing! Soon we'll all be lost in time!"_ the Pokémon yelled flying around in panic.

"Whoa calm down!" Liz cried ducking as the Pokémon flew over her head. The Pokémon stopped and turned towards Liz its eyes wide. "I don't like the look you're giving me…" Liz said backing away nervously.

"_You summoned me here…"_ it whispered loudly.

"What? No I didn't!" Liz protested loudly but the Pokémon ignored her and began flying backwards and forwards as if it was pacing.

"_The time streams... they began crossing in force on the day you began your journey…"_ the Pokémon whispered staring into Liz's eyes as if it could see her soul. _"You were always the one who was the most likely to choose not to go on the journey due to the curse… but the fact you did... it created so many events and changed so many lives…"_

"You know?" Liz gasped loudly. "Who are you?!" She demanded.

"_You'll find out soon... but for now I need you do me one more favour… and I'm so sorry Lizzy… I'm so very sorry…"_ the Pokémon apologized with tears in its eyes before it shut them. It lifted up its arms and green energy surrounded its body.

"That can't be good…" Liz muttered to herself backing away again as the Pokémon's eyes snapped open, only this time they were bright green. The Pokémon shot the green energy straight at Liz who couldn't dodge in time. Liz screamed and collapsed onto her knees in pain as the green energy surrounding the Pokémon increased again.

As the crowd in Everlasting Forest watched the sky for fireworks nobody realised that the very girl meant to trigger them had vanished without a trace.

**Part 2- Familiar faces**

"Ug… where am I?" Liz questioned sleepily as she sat up in the middle of a forest with the sun shining directly above her. "What the-?" She questioned herself "It was the middle of the night the last time I checked…" She looked around the forest and began to notice several other differences. The trees had been completely cleared of leaves which were scattered on the ground. A cold breeze swept through the forest making Liz shiver. "It kind of reminds me of Windswept forest…" She mumbled to herself. "But obviously that's impossible…" Liz said standing up. "Luke? Billy? Paula?" She called out to the trees. "Where are you guys? Hello?" Liz looked around beginning to feel nervous. She began to walk forwards looking around as she did so. "I wonder where I am… I'd like to give that fairy a piece of my mind!"

"HELP!" Liz heard a familiar voice cry.

"Billy?" She questioned out loud.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Liz heard the voice cry again and she began to run forwards until she reached the river where she saw Billy desperately trying to swim.

"Here grab this!" Liz cried grabbing one of the many fallen tree branches and holding it out into the river. Billy, in a last burst of strength, managed to grab on as Liz pulled him to safety.

"Thanks…" Billy said gasping for breath.

"How on earth did you wind up in the river?" Liz questioned frowning.

"Well I was trying to catch this Poliwag and..." Billy began.

"You were trying to catch a Poliwag in the middle of a violent river?" Liz cut him of frowning. "Didn't you try the exact same thing when you started your journey?"

"What are you talking about?" Billy asked also frowning. "I HAVE just started on my journey!"

"No you haven't. You've been travelling with me, Paula and Luke for ages now." Liz stated while blinking in confusion.

"I've never seen you in my life! And I've never heard of any Luke's or Paula's!" Billy snapped feeling quite irritated.

"Wait a minute." Liz said stunned. "You've never seen me before?" she asked making Billy nod his head. "Do you have amnesia or something? Maybe you sent a bit too long in that river..."

"I HAVEN'T GOT AMNESIA!" Billy cried in annoyance before sighing. "Thank you for pulling me out of the river," Billy began through gritted teeth. "but I really need to go and catch myself a Pokémon now."

"You really think you don't have any Pokémon? Billy you've got a whole team of six." Liz said slowly.

"How do you know my name?" Billy questioned shocked before shaking his head. "Whatever I don't care but I have just have started my journey and I don't have any Pokémon! Look I have no Poké balls on my belt!" Billy cried pointing to his belt which was empty making Liz gape. "Now I really have to go!" Billy snapped storming off as Liz stared after him.

"He just came out of a river… doesn't have any Pokémon... doesn't know me, Paula or Luke… and we're in a place that looks like Windswept forest…" Liz muttered to herself her eyes growing wide. "But that shouldn't be possible... if it is…" She muttered running after Billy and grabbing his arm.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? Crazy lady let go of me!" Billy cried trying to shake Liz of him.

"You need to come with me!" Liz cried running forwards dragging Billy after her.

"Let go! Kidnapper!" Billy cried as Liz ran forwards. Liz continued storming forwards ignoring Billy's cries of protest.

"This is it…" Liz muttered to herself as they reached a clearing loosening her grip on Billy's arm.

"Look what do you want? Why did you bring me here?" Billy yelled as a small shadow appeared behind him.

"Shut up!" Liz hissed pointing behind him.

"A Pokémon?!" Billy cried eagerly picking a Poké ball from his belt.

"No wait-!" Liz cried trying to grab his arm again. However, it was too late as Billy threw the Poké ball which hit the mystery Pokémon making Liz gape.

"I'll capture this Pokémon and use it to send you away!" Billy proclaimed as the Poké ball rocked back and forth. The Poké ball stopped rocking and made a small ping noise. "YES! I caught my first ever Pokémon!" Billy cried running up to the Poké ball while Liz continued standing in the same place. "Crazy Lady!" He cried holding the Poké ball towards Liz. "Let's have a battle!"

"I don't have any Pokémon…" Liz said sighing. "Even so I'll probably be able to defeat the Pokémon inside that ball…"

"What do you mean?" Billy questioned frowning as the Poké ball in his hand began trembling. "What's going on?"

"If I'm right we're about to have a big paradox mess of some kind…" Liz said growing pale as the Poké ball in Billy's hand burst open to reveal a Pichu with brown ears and brown tail.

"_Who on earth are you?"_ The Pichu asked looking at Billy before noticing Liz and gaping. "_What the-"_

"A Pichu!" Billy cried eagerly picking it up.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Liz warned just before Billy was shocked.

"H-how did you know it would do that?" Billy stuttered recovering from the paralysis as the Pichu began glowing. "It's evolving?" Billy questioned gaping.

"Brace yourself." Liz warned as the Pichu began growing until it stopped revealing an exact copy of Liz.

"There are two of you? And that Pichu can turn into a human?" Billy cried shocked before grinning. "That is so cool!" He was ignored however, as the 'new' Liz stormed up to her copy.

"Who are you?" 'New' Liz demanded "Don't tell me I have a long lost twin…"

"What?" 'Old' Liz questioned "Don't be stupid… I have some strange ideas sometimes."

"Who are you then?" 'New' Liz demanded

"I'm Elizabeth Payne." 'Old' Liz said shrugging.

"But that's impossible I'm Elizabeth Payne!" 'New' Liz said shocked.

"Will somebody please explain what's going on?" Billy demanded

"I think I can." 'Old' Liz offered. "I was originally travelling with you Billy Derringer, with a girl name Paula Haring and a boy about my age named Luke Carlson."

"You already said that!" Billy snapped. "But I've never seen you before today and now there are two of you!"

"You just caught a Pichu that transforms into a human that looks like me!" 'Old' Liz snapped.

"Or you look like me…" 'New' Liz stated rolling her eyes.

"Don't make things more complicated then they need to be…" 'Old' Liz said sighing. "Anyway after you captured 'me' the two of us went on a journey together and Luke and Paula joined us after a while. We were heading towards Everlasting Forest to watch this firework festival-"

"But I've never heard of this Everlasting Forest!" Billy cut in.

"YOU won't have done. Paula WILL." 'Old' Liz said clearly. "Anyway somehow while I was going to light this bonfire I met this strange fairy Pokémon and it sent me back in time."

"Really?" 'New' Liz and Billy questioned doubtfully.

"Look how do you explain that I knew your name?" 'Old' Liz questioned Billy. "And I knew exactly where to find the past version of myself."

"Who is the past version of you?" 'New' Liz muttered bitterly. "And I don't exactly like the sound of going on a journey with this kid." She said pointing at Billy.

"Hey!" Billy cried in protest.

"Besides you came back in time… I understand that much… but why are you here… and how will you get back?" 'New' Liz questioned making 'old' Liz frown.

"Good point…" 'Old' Liz muttered. "I wish Luke was here he'd probably know what to do…"

"Why can't you just go get him?" Billy questioned blinking. "You know… like how you found us two."

"We didn't meet him until we got to Saffron city…" 'Old' Liz said sighing "He's probably somewhere far away…"

"If you had a psychic type you probably just teleport to where he is." 'New' Liz said shrugging.

"That's it! You're brilliant past Liz!" 'Old' Liz cried happily.

"I don't want to be called past Liz…" 'New' Liz muttered bitterly. "How about you'll be called Liz and I'll be Lizzy?"

"Fair enough." Liz said nodding.

"But where are you going to get a psychic type?" Billy questioned curiously.

"Paula's got loads of Pokémon in her mansion. I'm sure she'll let us borrow one." Liz said smiling. "Would you come with me? I'll probably need some help…"

"Only if Lizzy comes as well." Billy said quickly.

"Why do you need me? You already have a version of me." Lizzy said nervously.

"I don't want to stuck with Liz by myself just encase she does turn out to be crazy! Plus you're the only Pokémon I have and I might need protection."

"I prefer your first reason." Lizzy said sighing. "I'm sure future Liz can protect you…"

"So you admit I'm from the future!" Liz cried victoriously making both Billy and Lizzy stare at her.

"It seems like you've rubbed off on me." Lizzy said to Billy.

"Billy hasn't rubbed off on me!" Liz snapped.

"Please Lizzy come with me…" Billy begged "I don't want to go with her-" he said pointing to Liz "by myself."

"I am defiantly going to shock the future version of you for saying that." Liz muttered but no one heard her.

"Fine." Lizzy agreed reluctantly. "Let's go find this Paula and Luke which 'future' me apparently knows…"

"Thanks." Liz said smiling. The group walked through Windswept forest for a few days before reaching the beaten path of route 22.

"Thank Arceus that's over." Lizzy said sighing.

"If you think that was bad you should be glad we didn't encounter any shiny Caterpies or Shakespeare-like Nidorans." Liz said sighing as the other two looked at her in confusion. "Let's go and find Paula… I hope she has a psychic type… I don't feel like repeating this whole journey again…" Liz said as she began walking forwards. Billy and Lizzy looked at each other before following.

"Viridian City!" Billy cried happily seeing the city after a few minutes of walking.

"Paula's castle isn't too far away." Liz said sighing with relief.

"Castle?" Lizzy and Billy questioned out loud but Liz ignored them. The three of them walked from the beaten path into the city. Gradually, as they walked through the city, Liz began to feel dizzy.

"You okay future Liz?" Lizzy questioned looking at her. "I don't really want to see myself collapse…"

"Maybe it's a side effect of time travel…" Billy suggested looking at her as Liz turned pale. Around them the city began to be filled with tall trees but Billy and Lizzy didn't seem to notice. Liz coughed a few times and the city stopped changing. It was now filled with tall trees but everyone was continuing as normal.

"What happened here?" Liz questioned dazed while looking around.

"Well you looked like you were about to throw up." Lizzy supplied helpfully.

"Not that!" Liz said shaking her head. "This city it's filled with trees!" she said pointing to the city as Billy and Lizzy looked around with blank looks on their faces.

"What do you mean?" Billy questioned confused "It's always looked like this!"

"No it didn't! Ten minutes ago none of these trees were here!" Liz protested.

"Liz I grew up here! Don't you think I would notice if it changed?" Billy questioned frowning.

"Yer Liz. In all of the ten minutes that we've been here this city hasn't changed one bit." Lizzy said frowning.

"B-but it was-!" Liz stuttered looking around.

"Let's go find this Paula." Lizzy said frowning. "The quicker you get back to the future the better it will be." She said as Liz also frowned looking at the trees.

"Yer… sure… let's go." Liz said hesitantly as the three of them headed towards Viridian forest. Soon, they encounter a very large castle making Billy and Lizzy gape. Liz frowned slightly when she noticed some trees coming out the building but didn't say anything and walked quickly forwards ringing the doorbell.

"May I help you?" An elderly man asked opening the door.

"We're here to see Paula." Liz said confidently making the man's eyes go wide.

"If she actually exists…" Lizzy muttered.

"Of course. I'll just tell Paula she has guests." The man said, bowing before walking away.

"Now do you believe me?" Liz questioned frowning just as Paula appeared at the door.

"I don't exactly have many guests wanting to see me." She said "Most just want to go into Viridian forest. Please come in!" She said smiling as she walked over to a nearby lever which Liz knew would open a trapdoor.

"If you make us do that stupid game of yours again I might scream." Liz threatened darkly making Paula's eyes go wide as she stepped away from the lever.

"You know about that?" She said laughing nervously. "I don't remember you guys doing it though…"

"Let's just say she heard about it from someone else." Lizzy interrupted quickly.

"Twins?" Paula questioned looking between the two of them. "I've never seen a pair of twins that look exactly alike though…"

"What are you talking about?" Liz said smiling nervously "We look different… erm… I have slightly longer hair… I'm slightly more tanned as well…" Liz paused frowning. "I can't think of any more right now but I'm sure there's a few…"

"Look… Paula right?!" Billy interrupted making Paula nod quickly "We just want to borrow a psychic type Pokémon to teleport us somewhere else!"

"Why would I lend you a Pokémon? You could be thieves for all I know and never give it back…" Paula cried frowning.

"Look we don't have time for this." Liz snapped. "Something… strange is happening and I really need to find my friend because he's the smartest guy I know!... But don't tell him I said that." She finished slightly embarrassed. Paula looked at her still unsure making Liz sigh. "If you're that concerned about it you can come with us."

"What?" Billy and Lizzy questioned in unison.

"Really?" Paula questioned in amazement.

"Group huddle!" Billy cried loudly pulling past and future Liz close to him. "Are you sure about this?" Billy whispered to Liz.

"Yer… no offense… I know she's your… my… friend in the future but she doesn't look like she'll be much help." Lizzy whispered.

"She's surprisingly resourceful. I'm sure she'll be able to help us in one way or another." Liz muttered back.

"Are you guys okay?" Paula questioned them making them break away smiling.

"We'll be happy to let you come with us if it makes you feel better." Billy said smiling. Paula thought it over for a few minutes before nodding.

"Very well then. But don't try any funny business!" She warned. "My Pokémon will protect me if you try and pull a fast one on me." Paula cried before motioning for them to come in.

"She's right." Liz muttered. "I wouldn't want to cross Alice when she's mad again…" she said shuddering while following Paula.

"Who's Alice?" Billy and Lizzy questioned in unison following after Liz. Paula took the small group towards a room full of Pokémon as a Wartortle waddled up towards her confused.

"Ah Wartortle we're not battling today could you help me find dad's Gardevoir please?" Paula asked making the Pokémon nod and run off. After a few minutes Wartortle appeared with an elegant Gardevoir at its side. It stared at the two Liz's for a few minutes before looking at Paula. "Gardevoir I need you to teleport these people and myself to the location of their friend. Where is he exactly?" Paula questioned.

"Erm... we're not really sure…" Liz said making Paula sigh in annoyance.

"Well that's not very helpful…" Paula said running a hand through her hair.

"_If you all picture him in your minds I can find him based of that." _the Gardevoir spoke in their minds calmly.

"You're willing to help us?" Paula cried in surprise making everyone look at her. "Normally dad's Pokémon don't really listen to me..."

"But out of our group I'm the only one who knows what he looks like… well my… twin does as well but she can't really remember him…" Liz explained making Lizzy frown.

"_I shall just use the image in your mind then… though the teleport might be a bit less accurate then it would be if four people were thinking of the same thing. The rest of you shall have to try and keep your minds blank."_ The Gardevoir explained calmly. _"Make sure you cling onto my arms and don't let go no matter what."_ Paula returned the Wartortle into a Poké ball before grabbing onto one of the Gardevoir's arms. The other three looked nervously at each other before Liz grabbed the other arm. Lizzy grabbed her 'twin's' arm with Billy linking onto both Paula and Lizzy. _"Now focus…" _the Gardevoir whispered into all of their minds as if closed its eyes and the small group disappeared.

**Part 3- Discovery**

The group re-appeared in another forest by a few mountains.

"Where are we now?" Liz questioned looking around. "And where's Luke?"

"_It appears we are near a mountain… probably near rock tunnel because I don't sense the energy of Mt. Moon or the powerful Pokémon of victory road…" _Gardevoir spoke in their minds. _"I don't know where the boy is… he should be somewhere nearby unless something popped into one of the other's minds."_ Gardevoir said glaring at them making them cringe.

"MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!" A familiar (to Liz) voice cried in panic. Everybody turned to see Luke with a Charmander in his arms and Umbreon at his side being chased by a pack of angry Ursaring. Everyone screamed and quickly joined Luke in running away.

"I don't like your friend Liz!" Lizzy cried in panic.

"He's your friend as well!" Liz yelled jumping over a tree root.

"Not yet!" Lizzy yelled.

"This way!" Luke cried pointing to a nearby cave. The group quickly scrambled in and there was a moment of tense silence because the Ursaring ran past making everyone sigh with relief.

"_I told you not to touch the eggs!" _Umbreon cried in anger. _"Just cause you thought it might be a shiny Teddiursa does not mean you should pick any eggs! Especially seeing as it turned out to be a Charmander!"_

"Sorry Shadow…" Luke apologized, patting the Pokémon on the head. "But I think we got a new teammate out of it…" He said lifting up the Charmander.

"Did he just talk to that Umbreon?" Paula whispered.

"_Dada?"_ The Charmander in his arms questioned making Liz snigger.

"I am defiantly holding Blaze against this in the future… though if you found him in the Ursaring nest it might explain his temper…" she mused making Luke and Shadow look at her.

"Lizzy?" Luke questioned in amazement.

"Luke!" Liz cried in happiness pulling him into a hug making Luke blink. "I never thought I'd be so happy to see you!"

"You too!" Luke said in amazement. "What are you doing here?"

"_This shouldn't be possible..."_ Shadow said his eyes widening. _"I thought my father-"_

"Well this is touching…" Lizzy mused looking at her future self and Luke hugging making them break apart in embarrassment.

"LIZZY?!" Luke cried in surprise "There are two of you?" He cried looking at them both making Paula frown.

"What are you talking about? Aren't they twins?" She questioned obviously confused.

"Erm… that might have been a slight lie…" Liz said before explaining what had happened to her. "So I was thinking that you might know what sort of Pokémon it was..." Liz finished her explanation.

"Hmm… it sounds like the work of the time travel Pokémon Celebi!" Luke mused

"Celebi…" Billy muttered "Isn't that a type of vegetable?"

"You're thinking of celery…" Lizzy supplied sighing. "But I've never heard of a Pokémon that can travel through time…"

"I'm not surprised… most of the information around Celebi is rumours and legends… some say it's a fearsome monster that lives under the oldest trees in forest but obviously from your story its nothing like that." Luke said.

"Why would it send Liz back in time though? And what did it mean by time streams?" Paula asked.

"I wish I knew…" Liz said sighing. She placed her head in her hands feeling very dizzy. Something in the air began to flicker in and out but no one seemed to notice it.

"_You're not looking so good…"_ Shadow said looking at her with worry.

"The same thing happened to her in Viridian city!" Billy realised. A Dragonite appeared were there was nothing before making everyone gasp in fear.

"Dragon!" Luke yelled as Billy pulled Liz to her feet and they all ran out of the cave in fear. They ran outside the cave and Liz gasped to find all the trees had been replaced by rocks and steep mountain sloops. Everyone didn't notice the change as they continued to run hiding behind a large rock as the Dragonite flew past. "Sorry that was stupid of me I should have never hidden in a dragon's cave…" Luke apologized gasping for breath.

"Did you see it?" Liz demanded making everyone look at her in confusion. "The dragon just appeared out of nowhere! And this mountain was a forest a few minutes ago! Plus I'm pretty sure dragons can't be found near Rock tunnel!"

"Liz this place is world famous for the fierce dragons even Gardevoir said so…" Paula pointed out making the Pokémon nod in agreement.

"And this has been a mountain since we arrived… I even twisted my ankle on one of the rocks remember?" Billy asked showing her his bandaged ankle.

"No! That injury never happened!" Liz snapped.

"Well it obviously did otherwise he wouldn't have the injury to prove it." Lizzy pointed out rolling her eyes. "I think future me is going crazy from the time travel…"

"Or maybe she's telling the truth…" Luke said loudly making everyone look at him. "Think about it… Liz came from the future so she's not a part of this present time that we are all from. I think these 'time streams' just might be different versions of events that live side by side. Liz came from the time stream where this mountain was a forest therefore she would notice if it changed. But because we come from this time stream ourselves we wouldn't notice if anything changed even if it happened right in front of us! If Liz went back to her current time and something changed right in front of her she probably wouldn't notice."

"Wait a second… I think the Celebi had this planned…" Liz mused "Originally the person who was selected to light the bonfire wasn't me… then I heard a voice protesting that something was wrong and that the time streams were crossing… that was probably Celebi. I think the original version of events was that I won the raffle to begin with but because number 18 won instead it would have created a different future. Celebi must have gone back in time slightly to make number 18 sick knowing that I would win the raffle as that was what was originally meant to happen. Celebi was attempting to fix the time streams already but it must have released it couldn't have done it by itself so sent me back in time to help!"

"That's all very well and good but what can you do to help? It's not like we hold the key to time or anything…" Lizzy pointed out.

"I think we need to find Celebi…" Liz said in determination. "Gardevoir do you have it in you for another teleport?"

"_Only if you're a lot more specific with the location… I don't think I can manage another vague teleport."_ Gardevoir mused

"Don't worry this time I know exactly where we're going. We're going back to Everlasting Forest!" Liz announced in determination.

"Technically only you've been to Everlasting Forest…" Lizzy pointed out.

"The one time I make a dramatic announcement it gets ruined by myself…" Liz said sighing. "Come on let's go." She said grabbing one of Gardevoir's arms as everyone linked together and Gardevoir teleported once more.

**Part 4- The Time Streams**

They reappear into an empty clearing. Several of the trees and plants looked like they were dying it was nothing like the healthy forest Liz remembered from the future.

"What happened here?" Liz questioned out loud.

"Everlasting forest was struck by kind of airborne disease which kills plants… They are currently cutting down lots of the trees to stop the disease spreading." Paula explained. "They're apparently still holding the firework festival here though which explains why you haven't fazed out of existence..."

"Well… that's a reassuring thought…" Liz mused

"Why would Liz fade out of existence though? The past version of her is still here…" Billy asked in confusion.

"It's a paradox effect." Luke explained. "If they stop running the firework festival that means we would have never gone there in the future meaning that Liz couldn't have gone back in time to now so this would have never happened."

"Right…" Liz said nodding "we should probably find that shrine before more time streams cross and I don't exist… well I do but not in this time… expect for the past version of me… geez time travel is confusing." Liz said while shaking her head

"_If you don't mind I shall go back to the palace…"_ Gardevoir spoke in the group's minds sounding exhausted. _"I have little energy left and I shall not be much help nor will be able to teleport this many people again…"_

"No that's fine Gardevoir thanks for all you've done." Paula said smiling making the Pokémon nod and teleport away.

"We should hurry before any other time streams cross." Lizzy said looking around the dead forest. After about half an hour of walking the group came upon the small wooden shrine.

"So how do we know if Celebi's here?" Luke asked in excitement getting out his camera.

"Not sure…" Liz said shrugging walking up to the shrine. "Celebi?!" She called out into the forest. "Anybody home?" She asked knocking on the shrine's doors. Suddenly they flew open making Liz jump back in fright.

"That actually worked?" Lizzy cried in amazement just as a blinding bright light came from inside the shrine making everyone wince.

"_WHO DISTURBS MY SLUMBER?"_ An angry sounding voice demanded from inside the shrine making everyone besides Liz jump.

"This would be a lot scarier if I didn't know that it was a little green fairy saying this." She stated folding her arms with annoyance.

"_Sorry it's a tactic I have for scaring off annoying trainers…"_ Celebi said sheepishly as it flew out of the shrine making everyone gasp as Luke took pictures. _"Sorry Luke Carlson…"_ Celebi began making Luke jump in surprise. _"taking pictures of me won't work… you can check if you like…"_ Luke gaped at the Pokémon before check his camera.

"The pictures they're blank!" He cried in amazement.

"_I don't exist in this time meaning you can't take pictures of me… try taking a picture of the future version of Elizabeth Payne as well… it won't work." _Celebi suggested making Liz raise one of her eyebrows as Luke snapped a picture of her. It too was blank.

"Who are you and why did you send me back in time?" Liz asked making Celebi smile.

"_You already know the basic answers to those questions but I'll tell you the long explanation_." Celebi said flying higher into the air. _"Throughout time I have been know through many names the most recent of these is Celebi! The legendary watcher, keeper and traveller of time! I have flown through the decades and the ages of time and have protected it for centuries! Now there is a new treat! There was once was terrify energy in a land far away! This energy caused a legendary Pokémon known as Dialga who controls some aspects of time to lose control of itself and become Primal Dialga! Luckily two Pokémon managed to stop Primal Dialga and the world and time to be saved! However! What we didn't realise that when Primal Dialga was rampaging it accidentally merged two small pieces of different time streams. This made an event occur which wasn't supposed to happen!"_ "What was the event?" both Liz's questioned in unison frowning. "_That is not my information to reveal."_ Celebi said shaking its head. _"But it caused a domino effect creating new events in the 'official' time line which also weren't meant to happen. However, this wasn't meant to happen and started a black hole effect in the time stream. We didn't realise it but random parts of the time stream started to cross and collapse with each other. By the time we realised you guys were already in Everlasting Forest and the crossing of the time streams was happening everywhere."_ "So why didn't you go back and fix whatever event was changed?" Luke asked. "_We looked at the different time streams and discovered the time stream where the event did happen was better than when the event didn't occur even with the black hole effect. Plus by then the black hole was already in place so even if we did fix the outcome of the event there still would be other events that needed fixing… it would require more power then we currently have now and afterwards then time stream would need constant maintenance."_ Celebi explained. "What makes you think I'll be able to help with what's going on?" Liz questioned frowning.

"_The time stream was created in a very specific way… Legendaries, humans and Pokémon can only edit so much of time… it's to stop any major__anomalies or paradoxes from occurring… however you are neither a human or a Pokémon and I believe you might be a loop hole in the time stream system."_ Celebi stated _"You'll be able to go much further in the time stream than I would be able to."_

"Then why did you send her back in time?" Paula asked while Liz processed this new information. "Why not use the present version of her?"

"Or send me back in time?" Luke added.

"_As you noticed on your journey Liz noticed any_ _anomalies that occurred on your way here while you guys did not. If I sent the Liz into the time stream while she was in the future she would not notice any anomalies in the same way. As for the reason I chose Liz… well we've had some encounters in the past… or in the future… whichever and I know her more than the other Pokémon-humans." _Celebi explained

"What happened if I decide not to help you?" Liz questioned folding her arms. "I might decide I really like it here in the past and don't want to do any more time travelling."

"_All of the time streams will eventually cross, even the time streams of the past and the future will cross into this timeline and the whole world will be destroyed." _Celebi said gravely making everyone gape.

"Why is the world getting destroyed?" Luke questioned causing Celebi to frown darkly.

"_There are too many bad versions of 'what might have been' and 'what may happen' for the world to survive. For example imagine what might have been if the comet that wiped out the pre-historic Pokémon had hit a different part of the world… the impact might have been too much."_ Celebi said shuddering. _"Plus the past and the future will all be in time timeline do think the world can survive ever encountered with evil that it ever has had or ever will have all at once? Of course not!"_

"So what do we need to do?" Liz asked making Celebi look sad.

"Not we. You." Celebi announced making Liz gape.

"What?" she cried in surprise. "What do you mean me?"

"_Exactly what I said. Liz you're the only one who can go into the time stream further then I can at the minute. You're the one I brought into the past to save us all. This is one mission you have to do alone. I can come with you up to a certain point but beyond that… I thought you understood all of this when I explained it a few minutes ago!_" Celebi cried in annoyance.

"I did understand… but I thought that everyone might be able to come with me anyway for support or something…" Liz explained looking nervous. "I don't think I can do this by myself!"

"We'll always be with you Liz." Luke said smiling "In here." He said tapping her heart.

"Now's not the time to quote cheesy movies Luke!" Liz snapped making Luke sulk slightly. "This is taking about going into a time stream and somehow stopping a black hole all by myself! How am I meant to do that?"

"_Well I thought you might be able to think of something when you got there…"_ Celebi said sheepishly.

"EVEN YOU DON'T KNOW?!" Liz cried in surprise and fear.

"**LIZ CALM DOWN**!" Everyone yelled in unison making Liz look at them.

"Listen I'm you… or you're me whichever..." Lizzy began. "And I know that we can't just let time collapse… so I know that you know that as well. I also know that you're scared… I'd be absolutely terrified right now… but you managed to show me on this little journey how calm and confident I can be... even if you didn't realise it." Lizzy said to Liz's confused look. "I never thought I'd be a leader but you managed to lead us all the way here… without following Billy, Paula or Luke around like you do in the future..."

"Gardevoir did most of the work…" Liz muttered kicking the ground.

"Liz you're my best friend…" Luke began.

"You're my best friend in this time?" Lizzy cut off in amazement causing Luke to glare at her. "Sorry carry on with your dramatic speech…"

"You're my best friend…" Luke continued. "I know you care a lot about all of us… even if you don't show it all the time. So I know you'll have enough strength to see this through to the end."

"We know that you have courage and strength… otherwise we would have never followed you here." Paula stated.

"You just need to do the final steps by yourself." Billy finished his voice filled with determination. "But we'll be with you in spirit… and waiting for you in the future."

"_So are you ready?"_ Celebi questioned holding out its arm.

"No." Liz stated making everyone freeze. "But I'm going anyway." Everyone broke out into grins at this.

"That's the spirit!" Billy cried happily. Celebi held out its arm and Liz grabbed it as the two of them headed for the shrine. The light began to shine from inside the wooden building making everyone wince and when they could look they were gone.

"There they go…" Luke said sighing.

"So how are we supposed to get back?" Lizzy questioned making everyone's eyes widen.

**Part 5- The black hole**

Celebi and Liz travelled through the white light. Strangely it didn't hurt their eyes as they walked through it.

"Celebi what's going to happen to everyone in the past when I fix the black hole?" Liz questioned

"_They will return to the positions they were meant to be at this point in time. So past you would be dragging a boulder through Windswept forest with Billy. Paula would be training with Alice and Luke would taking a picture of a rare flower that only blooms once per year. This adventure will have happened but they won't remember it like they didn't remember the changes in the scenery."_ Celebi explained smiling. _"We're coming up to the time stream soon." _Celebi realised making Liz look at their surroundings. The bit of whiteness that they were in looked exactly the same as everything else they had travelled through so far but it appeared Celebi was right as within minutes they were surrounded by images. Liz looked at the time stream with wonder. There were millions of different versions of herself some older and some younger but most were the same age. Interestingly, quite a lot of the different versions weren't wearing hats leading Liz to assume that they were the versions that were never bitten by the White Pichu. There was a version of her running across a busy street, applying for a job, even one where she was wearing a big white dress.

"Wait a second… am I getting married?" Liz questioned trying to locate what she had just seen.

"_J-just ignore that!"_ Celebi cried flying in front of her blocking her vision. _"I don't want to mess up the time line just because you saw something you weren't meant to!"_

"But I want to see who I'm getting married to!" Liz cried trying to peer around the green fairy.

"_Does it really matter? Just as long as you love him…"_ Celebi said smiling weakly.

"I never saw myself as a marring type though… I just want to see who the guy who changes my mind is…" Liz said still trying to see the time stream.

"_You already know in your heart."_ Celebi said smiling sweetly.

"That's not an answer!" Liz cried frowning.

"_Of course it isn't…"_ Celebi muttered sighing while rolling its eyes. _"It's just one version of the future though… not what necessarily will happen… and it defiantly won't happen if you don't figure out who you want to marry yourself rather than cheating. But you can look if you want to… I won't stop you this time."_ Celebi said flying out of the way. Liz sighed and glanced at the vision before averting her eyes and chasing after the legendary. _"Good choice."_ Celebi said breaking out into a grin. They wordlessly travelled side by side for a few minutes with Liz not looking at any more of the visions. In the distance there was a speck of blackness making Liz squint at it. Celebi stopped flying with a sad look in its eyes.

"This is far as I can go…" It announced sadly.

"But you've only been with me for a few minutes!" Liz protested. "And judging by the time stream we haven't exactly gone very far back!" She said noticing some images of herself when she was younger.

"_Time is relative Liz."_ Celebi said shrugging. _"So is the time stream… it has no order the images you see are just those that appear… One of these could be from millions of years ago another could be from yesterday… It really doesn't matter how far you go down the time stream there's just a random point where you can't cross and this is where mine is." _Celebi explained as Liz looked around again. Some of the visions now showed wooden houses being built and several fossilised Pokémon (some which hadn't been discovered) looking alive and well.

"Celebi…" Liz began. "What will happen to me? If I stop the black hole…"

"_I don't know."_ Celebi said sadly making Liz sigh. _"I can't guarantee anything when it comes to time."_

"I best be off then..." Liz said smiling weakly. "You know... got to save the world and all."

"_I know…"_ Celebi said sniffing and wiping its eyes. _"Good luck..." _ Liz nodded and swallowed nervously before heading forwards. She walked forwards until she could hear the sound of crying. Liz looked around before noticing a little boy who couldn't have been much older than 5 years old. He was wearing an overly large T-shirt and shorts that went a bit past his knees. He had wavy blond hair which was over his closed eyes. The boy sniffed and wiped his tears as more ran down his cheeks.

"Um…" Liz began gaping at the small boy. "Who are you supposed to be?" Evidently she said the wrong thing as the boy's sobs increased making Liz cringe.

"I don't know who I'm SUPPOSED to be!" the boy snapped through his tears. "I'm just me…" he whispered quietly.

"Sorry…" Liz said sheepishly approaching the boy slowly. "It's just a little bit weird that I'm in the middle of the time stream and there's someone beyond the point that Celebi couldn't cross besides me…" She said looking at the boy. "I doubt Celebi would send a five year old to destroy a black hole and you don't look like you're... like me…. So who are you then?" she asked kindly kneeling down to the boy's eye level.

"I'm Gerry…" The boy answered in a small voice.

"You want to elaborate on that answer?" Liz asked raising her eyebrows making the boy burst into tears again. "Okay you're just Gerry! I get it!" She cried in despair patting Gerry's shoulder. "Please don't cry... Daniel does enough of that…" Gerry calmed down at this and looked at Liz.

"Who's Daniel?" He asked curiously sniffing some of his tears away.

"He's this Cubone I know… he has some attachment issues though… he cries enough to fill all of Kanto's oceans." Liz mused making Gerry giggle.

"Are you a trainer?" Gerry asked curiously.

"Well not exactly…" Liz said with a small smile making Gerry look at her in confusion. "Never mind about that what are you doing here?"

"I-I'm…" Gerry began looking fearfully at Liz who gave him her best 'it's okay smile'. "I'm an anomaly!" He burst out into tears again making Liz blink.

"You're the black hole?" She blurted out making Gerry cry even more.

"I didn't mean to be bad!" Gerry begged with tears spilling out of his eyes. "Something happened to me that wasn't meant to happen!"

"No I'm sure it wasn't your fault…" Liz murmured rubbing his back. "The faults in time only started occurring because Dialga did something when it was Primal Dialga… I'm sure it wasn't your fault…"

"But I didn't fix it…" Gerry muttered into Liz's shoulder. "I don't know how…"

"What happened to you?" Liz asked as Gerry flinched and looked away. "It's okay you can tell me…" She tried her best to be reassuring but Gerry refused to look at her. "You know you remind me of a friend of mine named Billy…" Liz began as Gerry looked at her curiously. "He's an idiot most of the time… but the other times he's brave… do you think you can brave for me now?" She asked as Gerry sniffed and pointed to a nearby image. Liz looked at it and gaped. "Oh Gerry…" she murmured as she watched Gerry run into the middle of the road before being hit by a truck.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like that..." Gerry muttered somewhat bitterly. "The truck should have never been there… I should have survived and grown and maybe even have gone on a journey like you…"

"Gerry…" Liz began as Gerry attempted to turn away. "Listen to me. I'm here to stop the time streams from combining."

"You're here to destroy me!" Gerry cried in fear trying to run away but Liz kept a firm grip of his arms.

"Gerry…" Liz began looking into his eyes which were somewhat similar to her own in colour. "I think I know how we can save a lot of people but you need to be brave for me one more time. Do you think you can do that?" she asked sincerely as Gerry calmed down and nodded. "I need you to let go of your grief…"

"But the time stream… a real black hole forms whenever I do that… and I'll disappear!" Gerry cried with tears running down his cheeks and he attempted to run from Liz again. "You can't make me!"

"Gerry…. I'll stay with you until you disappear and I'll destroy that black hole when it appears as well… but it seems to me that your grief about being killed when you weren't meant to is causing the time streams to combine… if you accept your fate we can save everyone." Liz said her voice catching. Gerry sniffed a few time looking from the image to Liz.

"You won't forget me… will you?" Gerry questioned with tears threatening to come out his eyes making Liz blink.

"Of course I won't… don't worry Gerry everything will be fine." Liz gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

"Then I'll do it..." Gerry said with a determined nod and breathing out a sigh of relief as a true smile formed on his face. "Goodbye… Lizzy…"he whispered as he disappeared into the image of him being run over.

"Bye Gerry…" Liz muttered as a tear ran down her face as the time stream began to creak and groan. Liz quickly wiped her face as an actual black hole appeared before her. Liz gritted her teeth in determination and turn into a Pichu. _"Now!"_ she cried summoning all of her energy into a ThunderPunch attack as she charged towards the black hole and she was sucked in. A few minutes of silence passed. A shot of light came inside the dark vortex and the black hole began spinning as more light shot out of it. The dark hole became completely bright and even Celebi, who was some distance away had to wince and look away.

In the forest where the past versions of Liz, Billy, Paula, Luke and Shadow stood they all gasped in amazement as light surrounded the shrine and shot into the sky as the forest around them began changing green and they began to fade.

In the future also a shot of light shot out of the shrine into the sky making the crowd gasp and start cheering as the fireworks began to shoot into the air thinking that this was the sign from the bonfire that everyone had been waiting for.

In the time stream the light shone brightly before flickering out as Celebi smiled. It could no longer sense darkness and it knew that the black hole was gone.

"_You did it Liz!"_ Celebi cried happily before looking around for any sign of its friend. _"Liz?"_

**Part 6- END**

The crowd cheered as yet another firework flew into the air.

"I wonder why Liz isn't back yet…" Luke mused looking into the sky. "She's going to be upset if we came all this way and she missed the whole festival…"

"I heard that they have a special celebration for whoever lights the bonfire." Paula said, gasping as another firework came into view.

"Now I really wish that I had her band!" Billy complained.

"I thought you said you would be happy if just one of us won…" Paula pointed out raising her eyebrows.

"Well I am happy for Liz… but you know these things are one in a lifetime opportunities… I'm surprised you two aren't more disappointed that you missed out." Billy mused.

"To be honest all I wanted to do was see the fireworks… and we can always come back another year and try our luck out again." Paula said thoughtfully.

"Yer… I'd rather be here taking pictures then in a celebration chair or wherever Liz is now…" Luke agreed taking another picture as a firework went off. "Still… I wish that Liz was enjoying this with us now…"

"Yer it's the first New Year celebration as a group and our fifth member isn't here…" Billy said sadly.

"_If your that concerned let's go and find her."_ Shadow suggested _"I bet she's not having any fun by herself."_

"That's not a bad idea but we don't know where she went to light the bonfire…" Luke said sighing.

"_I can easily track her scent."_ Shadow pointed out making Luke grin.

"Lead the way then Shadow!" Luke cried happily as the Umbreon ran ahead of the group with them following closely behind. Eventually they came to an old shrine where Shadow paused.

"_She should be here…"_ He muttered frowning while looking around.

"This doesn't look like the type of place where there would be a bonfire…" Paula mused looking around.

"From the looks of things there wasn't." Luke mused walking towards the shrine. "There's no signs of any fire anywhere..." he said placing a hand on the shrine as the doors flew open making everyone jump.

"What did you do Luke?" Billy questioned nervously.

"N-nothing!" He stammered. "The doors flew open by themselves! They must have opened in the wind or something…"

"_But…" _Shadow began cautiously. _"There was no sign of wind…"_ Just as Shadow said this a light began flickering from inside the shrine making everyone wince. A few minutes passed as everyone closed their eyes against the bright light. Eventually the light stopped glowing and the group carefully opened their eyes to see none other than their friend Liz standing before them.

"You guys look like you've seen a ghost!" She proclaimed laughing as everyone gaped at her.

"Liz?" Luke questioned her in amazement. "How did you-?!" he questioned looking from Liz to shrine and then back to Liz again. There was no question that the shrine was a lot smaller then Liz was… there was no way she could have hidden in it to surprise them.

"I don't know…" Liz mused looking at the shrine. "Once minute I was jumping into a black hole saving all of humanity the next thing I knew I was here…"

"Liz seriously." Billy said folding his arms. "How did you do that?"

"I am serious." Liz said looking him in the eyes. Everyone scoffed and turned to walk away.

"_Ah there you are!"_ A voice cried making everyone turn. Floating above Liz was the legendary Pokémon Celebi and Luke scrambled to get his camera. _"I was worried you might have been erased from time when you weren't in the time stream… I can only assume the time stream automatically kicked you out to your appropriate time when the black hole was destroyed as a sort of flush of its system."_ Celebi mused. _"I doubt you'll be able to go that far in again the time stream has a way of remembering and improving its defences… maybe even against accidental time stream crossings this time."_ Luke snapped a few pictures making the legendary sigh. _"That won't work Luke Carlson." _Celebi said just as Luke discovered this himself.

"Wait wait wait!" Paula cried waving her hands in the air. "What sort of Pokémon are you? How do you know Liz? And what do mean time streams?"

"_All very good questions Paula Haring."_ Celebi mused nodding its head as Paula gaped. _"However I do need to check the rest of the time stream to check that each individual stream has been restored properly… so I'll just erase your memories now."_

"But I promised Gerry-" Liz began making Celebi look at her with a serious gaze.

"_Gerry is dead Liz."_ Celebi said solemnly _"And it is better for you to forget about him."_Celebi said as it released a white light which spread towards the group.

"No! I want to remember!" Liz cried just before they were swallowed by the light. The light disappeared leaving the group stunned as Celebi sighed before disappearing. The group stayed still for a few seconds before shaking their heads.

"When did we get here?" Luke asked sleepily.

"Not sure… I remember going to light the bonfire… I think you guys came to get me after I lit it…" Liz mused shaking her head again. "I feel like I've just forgotten something important though…" She muttered softly but no one heard her.

"That sounds about right…" Billy agreed slowly before gasping loudly. "Come on! We have to get back before the firework celebrations finish!" He cried grabbing Liz by the wrist.

"Let go! Kidnapper!" Liz cried in despair making Luke, Paula and Shadow laugh as Billy dragged her back towards the crowd. As the small group of five watched the fireworks shoot into the air no one noticed a little green fairy watching them from behind a tree before it sighed and shook its head.

"_I think I might have made a mistake Liz…"_ it muttered softly to itself. _"I hope that when you remember you'll be able to forgive me." _It sighed once more before disappearing into the night.

**End of Part 1**


	44. Shocks and static- New Year Special Pt2

**Shocks and static- New Year Special!**

**Part 2**

**Author's note**- Here's the second part! Hope you all enjoy it! Sorry it's a day late but for some reason the computer kept acting spazzy and publishing the first part agaion was a mistake. As for whether this has any relevance to the story well… I always imaged Luke found Blaze in an Ursaring nest so that part is defiantly part of the story line… I just haven't put it into a chapter yet and I doubt I ever will… as for the rest of the story… well I won't say it's completely irrelevant…

**The Legends and the Cursed Pokémon**

A place with no name, no scenery and no sense of time. That is where is said that Arceus can summon the legendaries and its subjects to discuss matters of grave importance. This legend has been around for many centuries. Scientists argue such a place cannot exist. They say it is impossible for a state of nothingness to exist. Yet this legend continues to be passed down through generations. And foolish people continue to look for it. Continue to seek out the legendaries to try and solve their problems. As if legendaries don't already have enough to worry about.

**Part 1 – The Council of Legends**

"_**CELEBI!" **_A voice echoed from out of nowhere making the green time travelling legendary flinch. There were only a few things that could make Celebi afraid and Arceus was one of them. It sighed and looked around Everlasting Forest. It hoped this wouldn't be the last time it saw this place. Arceus could easily destroy it and then bring it back to life just to destroy it again. It sighed and disappeared into thin air only to reappear in the council of legends. This place looked different every time Celebi came here. This time it looked like it was floating in space and Celebi could even see some of the planets but it knew it was just an illusion. It seemed that although Arceus had created the void it was slightly afraid of the nothingness where the legends so often met. So it created illusions every time to fill the void up with something. Celebi wondered slightly at the scenery and tried to guess Arceus' mood. It was an impossible task but it passed the time (even though there was no time here) as Arceus liked to arrive out of nowhere to shock them. Not that there was anyone else here Celebi realised looking around, unless Arceus was hiding the other legends. A golden light shone in the darkness and Celebi realised that instead of trying to shock it Arceus was making a dramatic entrance. Which seemed a bit pointless, as Celebi was used to the powerful legendary arriving in this way. Arceus appeared out of the golden light and it did not look happy making Celebi flinch again. _**"Why was it-" **_Arceus began as Celebi was torn between looking at the legendary or its own feet. _**"that out of all 4 of them you decided to send HER?!"**_ Celebi gaped and tried to think of something to say as Arceus' glare increased. _**"ANSWER ME!"**_ it demanded.

"_W-well…"_ Celebi began in a small voice. _"I-I didn't think it would become a problem if I chose Elizabeth Payne over the others…." _Arceus' anger only seemed to increase at this.

"_**You. Didn't. Think."**_ It repeated in a slow angry voice. _**"You knew that the first anomaly occurred because of the boy's death!**_ _**They managed to communicate in the time stream and the girl still remembers parts of it!"**_

"_What?"_ Celebi questioned in surprise temporarily forgetting how angry Arceus was until it growled. _"I-I erased her memories!" _Celebi cried in defence. _"She shouldn't be able to remember!"_

"_**I think your forgetting that in the past an Umbreon also erased her memories." **_Arceus began still growling slightly. _**"She managed to overcome that memory block and her mind became stronger. I know legendaries are more powerful than other Pokémon. However… it might be because she knew you were going to make her forget, but ultimately her mind managed to retain some memories in her panic. Flashes. Dreams."**_ Arceus said looking off into the distance before returning its attention to the small green fairy.

"_Won't she think they are just dreams though?"_ Celebi questioned hopefully as Arceus shook its head.

"_**We cannot be sure of this." **_Arceus said turning its head away again. Silence fell between the legendaries and Celebi hoped Arceus had forgotten its anger.

"_Surely…"_ Celebi began hopefully. _"it doesn't matter even if she does remember..." _Arceus' eyes flashed dangerously causing Celebi to shrink back before it sighed and relaxed.

"_**I can think of someone who would disagree." **_Arceus said solemnly. _**"We stand a high chance of losing one of our agents if Elizabeth Payne manages to put the pieces together."**_ Celebi grew pale as it realised what Arceus was talking about. _**"I must call the other legendaries so we can discuss this problem…"**_ Arceus murmured to itself but Celebi still managed to hear it. _**"I call the beings that humans call legend! The first Pokémon Mew! The clone Mewtwo! And my children: Dialga and Palkia!"**_ Arceus announced in a loud voice making all the legendaries appear at once. Celebi tried to ignore the other legendaries especially Dialga who looked like it was trying not to look smug.

"_Sup Celebi!"_ Mew cried out happily not recognising the tense atmosphere.

"_Mew now's neither the time nor the place."_ Mewtwo muttered nudging the playful legendary.

"_I've said it a thousand times that we don't need two guardians of time."_ Dialga said smirking.

"_This was your fault in the first place!"_ Celebi yelled. _"If you hadn't lost control none of this would have happened!"_

"_My losing control had nothing to do with your stupid decision though." _Dialga pointed out.

"_**Silence!"**_ Arceus demanded attracting all of the legendaries attention. "_**Celebi is correct Dialga you should have had better control yourself! But Celebi out of all of the opinions you had you chose the worst possible one!"**_

"_The best."_ Palkia muttered making everyone look at it in confusion. No one interrupted Arceus when it was angry without good reason. _"The boy's death was an anomaly in time and space. The girl managed to cement his existence when she fixed the time stream. That way it won't cause any other black holes in the future."_

"_We don't know how much stronger the time stream has become."_ Mewtwo pointed out. _"It's a good thing that the event was cemented otherwise another black hole would eventually form and this time the Pokémon-humans wouldn't be able to stop it."_ Mewtwo said causing the other legendaries (bar Arceus and Dialga) nod.

"_**And what say you-"**_ Arceus said turning towards another Pokémon in the void which none of the others had noticed yet. _**"White?"**_ A small white Pichu with golden ears, eyes and tail ran into the centre of the circle of legendaries.

"_You know how I feel about this Arceus."_ White pointed out folding his small arms in annoyance.

"_Whitey! Don't be a spoilt sport! Tell us!"_ Mew whined causing it to be glared at by everyone.

"_Palkia and Mewtwo are right about the advantages to the time stream."_ White began making Celebi smile hopefully. _"But it doesn't change how I feel about this!" _White snapped as Celebi sulked. _"It was meant to be my decision! My choice! And thanks to Celebi she might figure it out before I'm ready! And then you know what will happen to me Arceus!"_

"_**I know."**_ Arceus remarked solemnly. _**"So what do we do about our problem?"**_

"_I say you destroy Celebi and had over all aspects of time to me! Celebi deserves to be punished."_ Dialga remarked bitterly.

"_**DIALGA ENOUGH!"**_ Arceus yelled loudly somehow making his voice echo. _**"The responsibilities of time are held by more than one Pokémon for a reason! And the next time I need to remind you that this is your fault as well I shall do so with force!"**_

"_Plus that doesn't solve the problem of the girl's memories."_ Mewtwo pointed out. _"I could put up a psychic block in the girls mind which will lock the memories away for longer… but not forever… plus it may affect the girl's mind."_

"_No!"_ White cried loudly making everyone look at him. _"I wouldn't mind if it was just locking away the memories because that would buy me time but I refuse to allow anything that may affect her badly in the mind!"_

"_We could try erasing the memories again while she's asleep."_ Mew suggested somersaulting in mid-air out of boredom.

"_Won't work."_ Palkia said bluntly. _"It would be impossible to locate the memories while they are crisscrossing in the realm in dreams."_ Arceus looked at everyone present frowning.

"_**Are there any more suggestions?"**_ It questioned fiercely as everyone was silent. _**"Then we use Mewtwo's idea."**_

"_No!"_ White cried loudly

"_**We will place a psychic block in the girl's mind."**_ Arceus announced ignoring White. _**"Whatever the consequences."**_ It said looking White in the eyes.

"_No you can't!"_ White cried

"_**You have your orders. You all will follow them."**_ Arceus said fiercely still looking at White. The legendaries nodded before disappearing leaving Celebi, White and Arceus.

"_I'm sorry White."_ Celebi muttered before disappearing.

"_You can't do this!"_ White hissed causing Arceus to chuckle. White personally didn't like the sound of the laugh.

"_**White surely you should know by now I can do whatever I like."**_ Arceus remarked before they both vanished.

**Part 2- Forgotten Memories**

The group of five were still in Everlasting forest following the New Year celebrations. Billy yawned sleepily

"I'm so tired!" He complained yawning again

"You didn't have to stay up till midnight you know." Luke pointed out.

"But I wanted to make a New Year's resolution at midnight!" Billy complained.

"What was your resolution?" Paula asked curiously

"I'm hoping it was to stop going on wacky adventures." Liz cut in quickly.

"No way I love going on wacky adventures!" Billy cried out "No my resolution is to thrash Kane the next time I see him!"

"That's not a very important resolution." Liz pointed out.

"Then what was yours?" Billy asked, folding his arms.

"To stop chasing after annoying Pichus. In fact to stay away from Pichus altogether especially if they are not normal Pichus. And Sparky and Sparkette don't count if we bump into them." Liz explained sighing making Paula frown slightly.

"Wouldn't you have to stay away from yourself then?" She pointed out.

"I don't count either." Liz said quickly. "What about you two?"

"To take twice as many pictures as last year!" Luke proclaimed in excitement.

"To buy twice as many dresses as last year!" Paula cried in equal excitement

"_Why is everyone in this group rubbish at making resolutions?"_ Shadow asked shaking his head. _"Mine is to stay away from the Poké nip… that stuff can't be good for me."_

"Then what I am meant to do with the Poké nip I have left?" Luke questioned in surprise.

"_Either throw it away or give it to someone else. I don't care."_ Shadow remarked moodily lying down onto his stomach

"Withdrawal systems." Luke whispered to the group who nodded in understanding.

"_I heard that!"_ Shadow growled as the group sniggered. A group of small children ran up to Shadow in excitement.

"Can we pet him mister?" A small boy with straight blond and bright blue eyes questioned in excitement as Liz looked at him curiously. He seemed a little bit familiar to her but she just shook her head in confusion. The children with the boy asked the same question in anticipation.

"I wouldn't risk it kids." Luke said sighing as all the kids looked disappointed. "He's a bit tetchy today." Shadow growled at this but said nothing. The children sighed in disappointment before running off.

"Did one of those kids look familiar to you?" Liz questioned her friends curiously.

"Nope. We probably would have recognised them or vice versa if we met before." Luke pointed out while Liz just shrugged.

"_MOVE!"_ A voice cried loudly as everyone turned to see the White Pichu sprinting towards them.

"Well there goes my resolution." Liz muttered just as a Mewtwo appeared out of nowhere. "Where the hell did that come from?!" Liz cried in surprise as the legend looked at the group narrowing its eyes. Luke looked at his camera hopefully as Shadow shook his head in warning as Luke nodded in understanding.

"_A pleasure meeting you."_ Mewtwo said without emotion. _"Not that you'll remember in a few minutes."_

"_RUN AWAY!"_ White cried in desperation as Mewtwo raised its arm a blue energy surrounded its hand.

"_After I have finished my mission I shall inform Arceus of what you attempted to do White." _Mewtwo said blankly as everyone was surrounded by blue psychic energy preventing them from moving. Mewtwo floated towards the group stopping before Liz as it leaned forwards looking her in the eyes. _"Hmm… Elizabeth Payne…"_ It remarked slowly and Liz would have gasped if she could_. "You don't seem very special to me. I don't understand your choice White."_ Mewtwo remarked glancing at the Pichu who looked like he was trying to glare. _"Let's see now..."_ Mewtwo remarked clenching its fingers together slowly. Liz's eyes widened slightly as voice rang in her mind.

"Goodbye Lizzy…" She heard the voice echo in her mind.

"Bye Gerry." She muttered before she fully realised what she had just said.

"_So you do remember… at least a little."_ Mewtwo remarked narrowing its eyes again. "_That means I have no choice. I hope it doesn't affect you badly."_ Mewtwo muttered softly letting emotion slip into its voice for a minute. Mewtwo shook its head as the blue energy surrounded its hand again.

"_NO!"_ A different voice cried as Mewtwo was blasted with a powerful energy sphere attack throwing it into a nearby tree cancelling the psychic energy as Celebi appeared out of nowhere. _"I won't make another mistake!" _

"_Celebi…"_ White gasped in amazement _"I am eternally grateful."_

"_Just go! I won't be able to hold Mewtwo for long!"_ Celebi cried in desperation as Mewtwo began to stir.

"_Come with me if you want to live!"_ White cried desperately.

"Running first. Questions later." Liz agreed as everyone gaped in amazement as White began to run ahead of them.

"but what about-" Luke began trying to snap a picture of the legends just as Liz grabbed his arm pulling him after her and Billy, Paula and Shadow followed them quickly.

**Part 3- Hiding from legends**

White ran ahead of the small group as they ran through a forest. It seemed like they had been running for hours on end and Billy stumbled over a tree stump in exhaustion.

"Surely we must be safe by now!" He complained.

"_We'll never be safe!"_ White snapped. _"We're trying to hide from the most powerful legendary Pokémon in the world! We'll never be able to stop!"_ Billy of course couldn't understand White's rant but judged by Liz and Luke's faces he hadn't said anything good.

"_We can't carry like this forever!"_ Shadow pointed out growling angrily. White glanced at the exhausted group and sighed in annoyance.

"_10 minutes."_ White allowed reluctantly. _"No more."_ Luke translated this to Billy and Paula who sighed in relief. (**Author's note** just assume that everything White says from this point onwards is translated either by Luke or Liz)

"Well aren't you generous?" Liz snapped sitting down on a nearby tree stump as the rest of group collapsed either onto tree branches or the ground.

"_I'm trying to keep you safe!"_ White yelled angrily. _"But if you don't want my help I'll just leave!"_

"Fine then!" Liz yelled glaring at the Pichu. The two of them glared at each other before White sighed in frustration.

"_Sorry."_ White apologized reluctantly. _"It's that Arceus won't ever stop and I get frustrated that we have to. We won't be able to ask for help no one goes against Arceus."_

"I guess I'm sorry as well..." Liz muttered softly. "You did try to warn us about Mewtwo and now you're helping us… I'm still angry about you cursing me!" Liz cried out before shaking her head. "But I think we can have a temporary true while legendaries are hunting us down."

"_Agreed."_ White said nodding.

"So why are legendaries hunting us down?" Paula asked curiously.

"_Well… they're only really hunting Liz down."_ White pointed out.

"Well don't I feel special." Liz muttered making White smirk.

"But why?" Billy questioned curiously.

"_Well…um…"_ White began thinking quickly. _"She learnt… some information… which she really shouldn't know… the legendary Celebi tried to make her forget but it seems she retained some information and they don't want her to." _Liz frowned at this as an image of a young boy with wavy blond hair and eyes similar to her own popped into her mind.

"That makes sense but what's so bad about making her forget again that you had to come and save us?" Luke asked curiously as White sighed.

"_It could affect her mind."_ White announced as everyone was silent. _"She might lose all her memories… become extremely paranoid… or get a completely new personality…"_ White explained as everyone grew pale._ "Of course the effects might not even be noticeable!" _White cried out quickly _"But I couldn't take that risk."_

"Thank you." Liz said sincerely as White nodded not looking at her. "But I don't even know what I'm supposed to remember!" she cried out in frustration.

"_Really?!"_ White cried out in surprise noticing a stab of disappoint before he shook his head. _"Try not to think about it."_ White advised looking at the ground.

"You said a name before though…" Paula realised "Greg or George or something like that…"

"_I don't think she said anything like that!"_ White cried out panicking slightly. _"I think it was something like Peter or Tim! Defiantly not anything beginning with G! Now that I think about it… it might have not even been a boy's name!"_ Liz ignored White who was clearly lying and focused on what she said earlier.

"You won't forget me… will you?" A voice echoed in her mind as she placed a hand on her hand and sighed in frustration.

"The next time someone thinks it's a good idea to erase my memories please stop them because it's really frustrating." Liz complained as she started thinking again ignoring White's attempts to distract her. She concentrated while everyone stared at her in wonder. Liz saw image flash in her brain none coming up for more than a second. Most were of the young boy she had thought of earlier. "Gerry…" she murmured in realisation as the rest of her memories came back. "I remember…"

"_Oh great…"_ White muttered to himself quietly growing paler.

"What is it?" Billy asked curiously as Liz explained her story.

"If I didn't know you didn't have a drop of alcohol and if I didn't know legendaries were coming after us I'd probably accuse you of making this all up." Luke muttered at the end of it.

"So why is forgetting about it so important?" Liz asked curiously "I can keep a secret you should know that by now." She said narrowing her eyes at the White Pichu.

"_Well…"_ White began thinking as quickly as he could. _"…They… um…. thought if you remember Gerry it might… um… cause another black hole in the time stream as his death was never meant to happen."_

"Liar." Liz said bluntly making White sigh.

"_Look I don't want to explain this right now."_ White said standing up _"We better get moving anyway."_ the rest of the group reluctantly followed.

"_Did you really think you would escape?"_ A tired voice questioned and everyone gasped in amazement at Mewtwo. The battle had clearly taken a lot of energy out of it but it was still able to make everyone afraid.

"If you want Liz's memories you'll have to go through me!" Luke proclaimed standing boldly in front of the group.

"_Alright then. I'm flexible."_ Mewtwo said shrugging as it stretched out its arm as its hand was instantly surrounded by blue light which then surround Luke as he was sent flying into a nearby tree.

"Luke!"Everyone cried in surprise as they ran towards him and Liz and Shadow checked him over for injuries.

"_Now who's next?"_ Mewtwo questioned in boredom before locking eyes with a very angry Liz. _"Unless you're willing to let me block your memories without the drama."_

"_Mewtwo stop!"_ White cried before Liz had a chance to reply. _"I changed my mind! I don't care if Liz remembers anymore or not!"_

"_This changes nothing. I have my orders and I intend to carry them out."_ Mewtwo remarked switching its attention back to Liz.

"_NO!"_ White yelled loudly making Mewtwo glance at it. _"No! I changed my vote! We all had a vote of what was going to happen and now I've changed mine! That means we need a re-vote!" _White yelled desperately as Mewtwo thought over what he said.

"_True…"_ Mewtwo agreed before giving a small smile. _"Arceus might not be happy about this though." _Mewtwo pointed out.

"_I don't care!"_ White snapped _"I demand a re-vote over what we do with Liz's memories!"_

"_Good job White. I was hoping you would come to your senses. I hate playing the bad guy."_ Mewtwo said giving out a true smile as he turned attention back to Luke. "_Sorry about that."_ Mewtwo said as Luke was surrounded by psychic energy and his wounds healed. _"You'll probably need your strength in a few minutes." _Mewtwo muttered.

"Why?" Luke murmured regaining consciousness.

"_We're going to see Arceus."_ Mewtwo said casually as if they were talking about the weather.

"_What?!"_ White demanded _"We can't take them there!"_

"_Might I remind you White they're still technically my prisoners and I still have my orders. If Arceus doesn't agree to your re-vote I can't risk them running off while we're busy."_ Mewtwo pointed out as White gritted his teeth. "_Oh that was your back up plan?"_ Mewtwo realised in surprise. _"You should know I'm smarter than that and besides you'd only buy them a few more minutes."_

"_Fine."_ White spat out as Mewtwo's eyes turned blue and everyone vanished.

**Part 4- Arceus**

They appeared in what looked like a court room and White and Mewtwo knew Arceus had chosen this particular illusion for a reason as they swallowed in fear. Arceus appeared in a golden light and it did not look happy.

"Are we meant to bow?" Liz whispered loudly causing Arceus' frown to increase.

"Liz there's a time and a place for comments like these. When Arceus looks like its going kill us all isn't that time." Luke whispered back.

"Don't worry. In a few minutes I might lose my personality and I won't say stuff like this anymore." Liz muttered back.

"_**I AM ARCEUS!"**_ Arceus announced in a booming voice even though it knew everyone there knew who it was. _**"The god Pokémon! Mewtwo! White! Why did you bring these humans here?"**_

"You'd think the god Pokémon would know everything." Liz muttered as Arceus looked like it wanted to vaporise her.

"You can't resist can you?" Paula whispered. "Maybe your resolution should have been to be less sarcastic!" Paula remarked as Billy sniggered.

"_**Silence!"**_ Arceus demand _**"You humans shall not speak unless directed otherwise!"**_

"_Arceus,"_ Mewtwo began trying to calm the legendary down_. "White here has changed his mind on what to do with the girl's memories. He wants to have a re-vote."_

"_**With that girl's attitude towards me I'd say she's in need of a personality change that the mind block might achieve."**_ Arceus remarked as Liz glared at it.

"_The rules are that if we change our vote we're allowed to have a re-vote!"_ White cried out as Arceus narrowed its eyes.

"_**True."**_ Arceus admitted as Mew, Palkia, Dialga and Celebi appeared in the court room.

"_Ooh court."_ Mew remarked looking around. _"Can I wear a wig and get a hammer?"_

"_No Mew. Just… no."_ Mewtwo remarked shaking its head.

"_Liz glad your… well… still you!"_ Celebi cried happily. Luke gaped at the legendaries and then at his camera.

"_No Luke."_ Shadow remark as Luke sulked.

"Come on you can't deny me this!" Luke cried pointing at the legendaries.

"Quick steal his camera!" Billy cried as Luke reached for his camera Billy grabbed it as all the legendaries glared at them.

"We're probably not helping my case here." Liz pointed out.

"_**Silence!"**_ Arceus demanded again his voice booming.

"_I'm beginning to hate that word."_ White muttered.

"_**We are here to discuss the case of what we should do with Elizabeth Payne's memories! Does the human in question have anything to say?"**_ Arceus announced as all eyes turned to Liz.

"Erm…" Liz began. "I'd rather not have a psychic block in my mind and I know how to keep a secret."

"_The main issue is not whether you can keep a secret or not."_ Palkia announced _"The issue is that you remember the boy named Gerry when you should not know him."_

"That's what this is all about?!" Liz cried in surprise. "What's so important about not remembering Gerry anyway?" She asked as everyone in the room seemed to fidget.

"_That's not important."_ Mewtwo spoke slowly. _"It's just the legendaries are concerned you'll begin to see connections between Gerry and… other things. If you discover this information it will not be an advantage to some who are in this room." _

"_**Indeed."**_ Arceus nodded in agreement _**"So I ask this again…. what shall we do about the memories?"**_

"_I say we leave them where they are!"_ White announced loudly as everyone looked at him in surprise. "_Let Liz keep her memories and deal with the consequences if she puts the pieces together!"_

"_**That may not be an advantage."**_ Arceus pointed out _**"Are you sure?"**_ Arceus as making White nod. _**"Does anyone else have any better suggestions besides those mentioned previously?" **_the whole room was silent as everyone glanced at each other.

"_I say we just restart the girl's mind. She'll have no memories but she'll keep her precious personality that White seems so keen on."_ Dialga announced glaring at the group.

"_**That will reduce her to the mentality of an infant." **_Arceus realised frowning. _**"Not very useful for our purposes. Does anyone have any real suggestions?" **_The room was silent again making Arceus nod. _**"Very well then. We shall be voting for Liz keeping her memories Vs placing a mind block in her mind and forgetting. All in favour of the first option raise your hands."**_ White, Celebi, Mewtwo and Billy all raised their hands until Paula nudged Billy and he sheepishly put his hand down. _**"All against?"**_ Dialga nodded but Palkia and Mew didn't vote making Arceus and Dialga glare at them. _**"3 votes to 2 the girl gets to keep her memories and have no mind block."**_ Arceus announced reluctantly making the group cheer.

"_I cannot allow this!"_ Dialga cried with rage.

"_You're just jelly 'cause Celebi won this round and you didn't!"_ Mew pointed out while giggling.

"_**Enough!"**_ Arceus roared _**"Leave this place before I change my mind!" **_It cried stomping its leg in anger as everything went dark.

**Part 5- Final moments**

"Well that was surprisingly easy!" Billy cried out happily as they materialised back into the forest. None of the legendaries were with them anymore.

"_Just be glad Arceus was feeling reasonable enough to have a vote. I don't know what would have happened otherwise."_ White said shuddering.

"Is anyone going to tell us what the big deal with remembering Gerry is? Or was this whole wacky adventure pointless?" Liz demanded angrily making White flinch.

"_One day I will tell you Liz."_ White promised. _"But promise me you will not try and figure it out before then. Promise me that."_

"I promise." Liz said as White breathed a sigh of relief before smiling.

"Thank you." White said bowing his head.

"You know I've just realised something." Luke remarked suddenly making everyone look at him. "Liz what was the last thing Gerry said to you both disappearing?"

"Erm… 'goodbye Lizzy' why?" Liz questioned frowning before widening her eyes. "I never told him my name!" She cried in realisation.

"What?" Billy and Paula questioned in unison.

"Surely you must have told him before he disappeared?" Paula asked making Liz shake her head.

"I'm sure I didn't!" She cried. "That's why the legendaries wanted me to forget! I know Gerry somehow! Is that right White?" She asked turning to the Pichu. "White?" it was clear that he had gone.

"He must have run off somewhere while we were talking." Billy remarked looking around.

"_So what are you going to do now Liz?" _Shadow asked as Liz sighed.

"Nothing." She remarked making everyone gape. "I'm not going to think about it." Liz said in a clear tone and the rest of the group knew she wouldn't discuss it further.

"There's a special offer in Poké Nip sales nearby if we hurry!" Luke remarked changing the subject.

"_I told you I've given up the stuff."_ Shadow remarked as Luke smiled.

"Well I think we'll get it just in case right guys?!" Luke questioned eagerly as Liz nodded and Billy and Paula gave reluctant approval. "Let's go then." Luke remarked as he led them out of the forest.

"Still not much of an ending to a wacky adventure is it?" Billy remarked. "I mean we just met legends!... and now we're getting Poké nip… not very exciting."

"Knowing you you can turn shopping for Poké nip into a wacky adventure of some kind." Liz remarked rolling her eyes as the group laughed. None of the group noticed the White Pichu following them.

"Bye Lizzy…" He murmured before running off.

**The End?**

_**That's the end of the New Year special and I've put the story back onto the right tracks as it was getting a bit away from the story line I originally had in mind. In my opinion this story less exciting than part 1… it was more for tying up loose ends and hinting at future information then a second part… I wasn't sure if I should even do a second part to be honest. Please don't hate if you thought it was horrible.**_

_**I know many of you will be disappointed but after much thought I've decided there won't be a special to this story. A sequel just isn't necessary plus I don't think I can write something that will take this many chapters again. The only reason I started thinking of one was because of Black Eevee and Gold Buneary storylines I thought of and those can easily be moved to Kanto. So sorry but no squeal. The contest chappie will be up soon though which is something to look forward to and Bubbles and Aurora will make a random reappearance and no one will say anything about it. Next time Red appears he'll have his new team don't worry and I'll probably add Jack (I think that's his name) another new character (can't remember who belongs to) into the story soon.**_

_**I wish you all the best for 2013!**_


	45. Shining stars pt 1

_**Jack is not my character but Skip and Flint are. Oh and Sarah is the name of the announcer and I will be using that name in future contests as well because it gets a bit annoying always saying the announcer...**_

Shining stars pt 1

**Billy's POV**

"There it is Celadon city!" I said in amazement looking at the large city before us. Even from some distance away you could see the various places of entertainment like casinos and theatre all glowing with light.

"It's the Nimbasa City of Kanto!" Aurora cried in amazement.

"Where's Nimbasa City?" Bubbles questioned curiously.

"It's a city in Unova… not too far away from the forest where Adolfo and I grew up actually." Aurora mused. She looked a bit sad at the end of this sentence but also didn't look like she wanted to continue so none of us pushed her.

"Well from what I know of Nimbasa city the two are actually quite different as well… Nimbasa has sports areas, a theme park and a musical while the main things in Celadon are the casinos and the contest hall…" Luke said.

"Contest hall?!" Paula cried in amazement.

"Hold your horses there Paula we don't even know if there's a contest on." Liz pointed out.

"Plus we're just going to look for Kyra and then we're going to move on!" I announced with determination.

"Oh I forgot to mention… there's also a gym." Luke added as an afterthought.

"A gym!" I cried with excitement before faltering. "I want to battle the gym… but I also want to look for Kyra… What happens if she gets even further away while I'm battling?" I muttered to myself getting worried.

"Matt did point out Kyra couldn't have teleported too far away from the preschool… chances are she's either in this city or someplace very close by." Bubbles mused. "And I doubt she would go far away from the person she sensed."

"Then she's probably taking her revenge right now!" I realised with horror "I don't want Kyra to kill anybody!"

"Don't worry Billy…" Luke reassured me calmly. "Kadabras are very smart I doubt she would just charge in recklessly without a plan… she'd need a few days to recover from the massive teleport she did anyway. We've still got time to find and stop her." Luke explained as I sighed with relief.

"You may as well challenge the gym then… Kyra probably won't come back without a fight and let's face it she's your strongest Pokémon. You won't be able to get her back without your other Pokémon gaining in strength." Aurora pointed out.

"And if we've got enough time for you to go to a gym we've defiantly got enough time for me to go to a contest!" Paula cried eagerly I opened my mouth to protest but was quickly stopped by Paula's glare.

"If there's one on." Liz added just as we walked past a giant sign reading 'Double battle contest on today!' "Well that was a weird coincidence…" she muttered gawking at it as Paula gasped in excitement.

"A contest!" She cried jumping up in excitement before screeching to a halt. "Wait… double battle?" She asked checking the sign.

"You'll have to use two Pokémon in both the appeal round and the battle round." Luke read aloud as Sparky and Sparkette looked at each other in excitement. "Sounds difficult…"

"Well I'm going to enter anyway!" Paula proclaimed in excitement. "Felicity and Alice have had loads of training together and they make a great team so I'll be using both of them!"

"Chu pi chupi!" Sparkette cried jumping on Bubbles' shoulder.

"Pichu!" Sparky cried grinning and nodding.

"I have no problems with that it should be fun!" Bubbles proclaimed with excitement smiling at her Pokémon. Paula and I looked at each other in confusion making Bubbles look at us. "These guys want to enter the contest so I'll be your rival this time around!" Bubbles proclaimed looking at Paula as she gaped.

"Well there's nothing wrong with a little friendly competition once in a while." Aurora said smiling at her reaction. "I'd enter myself with Adolfo," She said looking at her brother who was riding on her shoulder. "But it would probably be too much effort focusing on making a contest appeal and making an illusion of myself as a trainer…" Aurora said sighing unhappily.

"Hey why don't you let one of us enter you?" I asked eagerly.

"You'd do that?" Aurora asked smiling hopefully.

"Well it will have to be Billy or Liz cause I don't have a contest pass." Luke said frowning slightly. "I wish I could help though…"

"I don't mind." I offered nodding as Liz looked at me before looking at Aurora, sighing and nodding once.

"Then you'll be our temporary trainer Billy." Aurora said nodding at me as she and Adolfo grinned in unison and before I could even blink there was two Zoruas at my heels.

"Guess we'll be sitting in the audience stands alone Luke." Liz said shrugging.

"Unless…" He began smirking at her making her gape.

"Oh no!" She cried backing off holding her hands in the air. "I've already done that once you can't make me do it again!"

"Please Liz… it will be fun…" Luke begged fiddling with his amulet. "I really want to compete in the contest but I don't have a pass…" He asked looking at her as she glared at him before sighing.

"How do you manage to convince me into these things?" She asked shaking her head as Luke grinned and transformed into an Eevee and he and Shadow stood by Liz.

"Why are all my friends becoming my rivals all of a sudden?" Paula asked sighing making everyone laugh a little.

"Don't worry about it!" Bubbles said in a relaxed tone. "We'll just get out there and enjoy ourselves!" Everyone nodded in agreement (though Liz might have rolled her eyes) and we headed to the contest hall quickly and luckily everyone managed to sign up just before it was too late.

"Oh no not her..." Paula suddenly proclaimed loudly looking ahead of us while growing pale.

"Oh great it's the queen of fashion Ville." Liz muttered as Paula's rival Lucy Pennington turned around glancing at us before scoffing, flipping her hair over her shoulder and turning away.

"What a-" Bubbles began before glancing at Paula and me. "…witch."

"pipipipi!" Sparky proclaimed his cheeks crackling.

"Sparky! You shouldn't swear!" Bubbles scolded as the shiny Pichu sulked.

"Oh Elizabeth!" a singsong voice called making Liz grow pale.

"Quick hide me!" She begged but it was too late as a boy I recognised as her and Luke's old friend Peter from Windswept Valley came up to us making Luke growl.

"This must be fate!" He cried happily "Meeting you again so soon!"

"Enough Romeo!" a voice cried as someone wacked him in the back to the head. We all turned to see Skyla smirking at us as Peter glared at her. "Honestly Peter I thought you learnt last time that Liz wasn't interested in you…"

"Skyla!" Paula cried happily. "What are you doing here? I thought you went to go win some gym badges…"

"Well I did I went all the way up to Cerulean city and managed to win the badge fairly easily. But before I could travel though Mt. Moon to get to Pewter there were some issues…for some reason all the Pokémon near the area have been acting aggressively… I read some newspapers and experts are baffled… they say it could be anything from evolution stone miners to pollution coming from the lake near the nugget bridge. So for now that area is closed off." Skyla explained shrugging as I went pale. I remembered the first time we encountered the black fog it had been in the lake underneath the nugget bridge… the fog might still be active… could it spread into the nearby areas though? "So I decided to head to Celadon to challenge the leader here and keep an eye on Peter… Arceus knows he needs it." Skyla said rolling her eyes as Peter folded his arms. "And I decided to compete in the contest while I was here because I didn't compete in the Vermilion City contest."

"That's great! It's so good to see you again!" Paula said smiling at her friend.

"What happened to having too many rivals?" Bubbles teased nudging her.

"Attention!" A voice rang out loudly through the speakers interrupting us. "All competitors need to head to the waiting area! All competitors to the waiting area! Thank you."

"Come on! We don't want them to start without us!" Skyla cried eagerly as we all headed to the waiting room.

**Liz's POV**

"So where's Luke Liz?" Peter asked arrogantly the minute we sat down. "Decided to leave you alone with a real man?" He suggested waggling his eyebrows as Luke and Shadow growled softly at him. "He even left his Pokémon behind!" Peter cried in surprise recognising Shadow.

"Oh grow up." I scoffed turning away from the boy that I was sure had been reincarnated from some kind of leech like Pokémon… maybe he was a Zubat… he could be annoying as one sometimes. "He had… a family emergency elsewhere in Celadon…I decide to look after Shadow until he got back… Luke suggested entering him and erm-" I thought back to the last contest trying to remember what I had named Luke. "…Larry into the contest so they could have some exercise." I lied smoothly making Peter frown.

"Oh leave her alone Peter your just bitter because she broke your heart." Skyla said casually as Peter opened his mouth to resort.

"Hush! It's starting!" Bubbles hissed in excitement cutting him off as a nearby T.V screen flickered into life.

"Hello and welcome to the Celadon City contest!" The announcer cried running onto the stage. "As always I'm your announcer- Sarah!" She proclaimed making the crowd cheer. "Today is a very special contest as it's the 50th anniversary of this very contest hall being opened! And what better way to celebrate then through a double battle style contest?! Our competitors will be fighting it out for this!" She proclaimed holding a small green ribbon into the air. The ribbon was mainly green with some yellow in the middle and it had a small star on each end of the ribbon. "The Celadon City ribbon! This ribbon is also known as the 'shining star' ribbon because it represents the shining nature of this city! It's a very valuable ribbon to gain in one's collection!" Sarah explained as the crowd gasped and cheered in amazement. "So without further delay! Let's welcome the Judges give a big hand to Nurse Joy!"

"We are all very exited but please try not to injure yourselves in your excitement." The nurse said seriously while bowing slightly.

"She needs a holiday." I remarked as Bubbles and Skyla nodded in agreement.

"Mr. Contesta!"

"I hope we can make this a contest to remember!" Mr. Contesta said smiling.

"And last but not least! Celadon's blooming flower! Give it up for the gym leader Erika!" the announcer cried as the spotlight fell onto the gym leader making the crowd burst into even louder cheers. Erika blushed and waved shyly back as if she was unused to the attention. But she wasn't the only one blushing I noticed with a small smirk looking at a bright red Billy.

"She's gym leader…" Billy almost whispered while gawking at her.

"Awww Billy's got a crush." I teased him grinning making him turn even redder.

"Our little boy's growing up." Luke joined in wiping an invisible tear from his eye using his paw.

"Shut up!" Billy growled before softening his features and looking back at the screen.

"I-I'm honoured to be here." Erika said in a small voice as the crowd (mainly the male pre-teens and teens) cheered loudly.

"She doesn't seem very gym leaderyish…" Paula remarked with a small frown.

"Well you can't judge a book by its cover." Skyla remarked "I challenged her yesterday and she managed to wipe the floor with me… she kept on using moves that slowly drained my Pokémon's health while recovering her own… it was really frustrating."

"Ha I'm one billion times prettier than her!" Lucy scoffed loudly from nearby.

"Don't you have any of your own friends to hang around with?" Bubbles asked her making her blush with embarrassment.

"You made Lucy show emotion!" Billy cried in amazement.

"Quick somebody get my calendar we need to mark this day in history!" I added as Lucy turned away from us scoffing.

"There are hundreds of competitors here but only eight will get through to the battle round!" Sarah cried switching our attention back to the screen. "So we better get started! Please welcome our first competitor to the stage Jack from Lavaridge Town!" Sarah cried

"He's from Hoenn like me!" Skyla cried loudly as we watched a teenager of abut 15 wearing mainly black walk slowly onto the stage. Had had short, floppy black hair which fell into his eyes and his eyes were so dark they looked black. By his side was a grey Umbreon with blue rings marking it as a shiny Pokémon. This caused the crowd to mutter in apprehension.

"That Umbreon looks strong." Shadow said gawking at it.

"I hope we don't have to battle against him later…" Aurora whimpered and Adolfo nodded in agreement.

"Why is it whenever we see a rare Pokémon I don't have my camera?" Luke complained from my shoulder.

"Rocky." Jack said casually tossing a Poké ball into the air. It burst open revealing a Salamence making us all gape.

"Jack reveals a Salamence a very rare dragon type from Hoenn! What will his second choice be?" The announcer cried eagerly as Jack glared at her as if she was annoying him.

"Umbra." Jack muttered as the Umbreon by his side ran forwards and immediately leapt onto the Salamence's back. "You two know what to do. Begin." Jack said clearly nodding at them as his Pokémon nodded back. The Umbreon's body began glowing red which spread into the Salamence.

"The Umbreon starts things off with curse which normally only boosts the Pokémon who is using it stats! But it appears curse's power is being shared covering both Pokémon with a dazzling red light!" the Salamence grinned at the power boost as a huge concrete block appeared through the floor. The Salamence surround itself in a white light and flew rapidly towards the block in a burst of speed. The crowd gasped in horror just before the Pokémon reached the block but it ploughed through it with ease sending the pieces flying up into the air but making the powerful dragon type look very tired. "The Salamence has taken the block out with a powerful double edge attack but it appears to have injured itself in the process! Jack and the judges probably won't be too happy about that!" The announcer cried as Jack glared at her again. The Umbreon nodded at him before glowing a golden colour and shot a star into the sky.

"That's Wish!" Shadow cried in amazement. "It's a powerful healing move but it takes a while to work what's that Umbreon up to?" The Salamence unleashed a huge Draco meteor attack easily destroying the leftover of the concrete block and also destroying the star making the normally red Draco meteor turn gold and glitter to fall onto the two Pokémon healing the Salamence making the crowd gasp and cheer.

"It seems the injury was part of the appeal!" Sarah cried in amazement over the crowd. "But what do the judges think?"

"I disagree with the injury." Nurse Joy said while frowning. "But it appears the powerful wish managed to heal it but be careful in future."

"A dazzling show of both strength and beauty! I'd like to see more input from the Umbreon next time though." Mr. Contesta said with a slight nod.

"B-beautiful." Erika said with a slight smile as Jack nodded returning his Salamence both walking off the stage with the Umbreon at his heels.

"Woo looks like there's some strong co-ordinators here after all, eh Flint?" A teenage girl said to the boy next to her while whistling at the T.V. in amazement. They were both wearing similar clothing the girl was wearing a white t-shirt with a black Poké ball on it while the boy wore a black t-shirt with a white Poké ball. Also the girl was wearing blue jeans while the boy was wearing red but these also looked similar. It was obvious by their appearance that the two were related.

"You betya Skip!" The boy, presumably Flint, replied eagerly. "We might actually have to battle seriously this time!"

"You should battle seriously every time. I hate people who don't take contests seriously." Lucy said frowning at them.

"We weren't talking to you." The girl, Skip said.

"You shouldn't cut in." Flint finished.

"Now welcome to the stage! The co-ordinating twins- Skip and Flint!" The announcer cried making the two grin.

"We'll show you half hearted!" They said in unison before running towards the stage appeared on the screen moments later as the crowd burst into cheers.

"I've heard about these two!" Luke cried suddenly. "They normally take turns competing and only have one pass between them. They're pretty good co-ordinators I heard they've got two ribbons already! But this is the first time I've seen them together."

"This should be good then!" Aurora said eagerly as Sparky and Sparkette nodded in agreement.

"Go Matches!" Flint cried throwing a quick ball into the air.

"Go Strike!" Skip yelled throwing a fast ball into the air. A Litwick and an Electrike appeared in unison. The Litwick released some shadows as it was released and the Electrike produced some small sparks making the opening look slightly more impressive.

"Matches use Shadow Ball!" Flint ordered quickly.

"Strike use Spark!" Skip added just as fast. The Litwick produced a huge Shadow Ball above its head as the Electrike surrounded with Spark's electricity.

"Double double team!" The twins cried in unison as their Pokémon split into multiple copies surrounding the Shadow-Spark Ball.

"Those Pokémon have produced exactly the same amount of copies with the same amount of space between them!" Luke realised with his eye for detail.

"Now double flamethrower!" They cried in unison again. The two Pokémon and all of their clones unleashed a huge stream of fire towards the electric Shadow ball causing it to burn brightly making the crowd wince before the giant Shadow ball exploded producing what looked like black fireworks made up of sparks and fire.

"Incredible!" The announcer cried in amazement. "Working in unison with their Pokémon and each other the twins have managed to make up a dazzling display! Let's hear what the judges have to say!"

"Without each other the two Pokémon could not have produce this dazzling display truly amazing." Nurse Joy said as the twins and their Pokémon grinned at each other.

"Yes it was amazing but I was a little disappointed near the end when the glowing Shadow ball hurt my eyes…" Mr. Contesta admitted.

"Like a flower blooming…" Erika whispered "it was beautiful..." She said as the twins gave each other a high five and ran off the stage.

"How was that?" The twins questioned Lucy in unison as they got back.

"Simple" Lucy remarked bluntly as the twins glared at her.

"You wouldn't know a good appeal if it hit you in the face!" Flint said frowning. The co-ordinators glared at each other as if they wanted sparks to come out of their eyes.

"Looks like Lucy has made some new friends." I muttered sarcastically making the twins look at our group in surprise.

"Who are you?" Skip asked as Flint looked at our group before gaping in realisation.

"That's that girl!" Flint cried in realisation. "You know! The one that was in the Vermillion contest! The one with the rare Eevee!"

"Wow your famous Liz." Paula said grinning as I sighed while shaking my head as Luke sniggered as Flint gaped at him.

"More like Lu-Larry is…" I said catching myself before I said Luke's name just in time. "But I'd rather not be recognised at all…"

"And you were the winner of that contest!" Skip realised looking at Paula making her blush. "Flint? Remember the rookie who won?" Skip asked nudging her brother.

"If you recognise them you have to recognise me!" Peter spoke up. "Peter! Future top co-ordinator and Liz's future husband!"

"In your dreams maybe." Luke said scoffing.

"Or my nightmares." I added discreetly.

"Never heard of you." The twins said bluntly making Peter sulk.

"He was the guy who was kicked before being carried off the stage." Skyla added 'helpfully' as the twin's eyes widened.

"Now I remember you!" They cried together which didn't make Peter feel any better.

"I wish I could have seen that!" Bubbles said trying to hide her laughter. Sparky and Sparkette weren't as discreet as they rolled on the floor clutching their sides with laughter.

"Wow look at those Pichus!" Flint cried in amazement as Sparky and Sparkette looked at him curiously. "And Zoruas as well!" Flint realised looking at the two Zoruas on Billy's shoulders.

"That's what you look like when you see Pokémon you want to take of picture of." Shadow said nudging Luke.

"I do not!" Luke protested.

"Yes you do." Shadow, Sparky, Sparkette, Aurora and Adolfo said in unison.

"Flint what have I told you about gawking at other people's Pokémon?" Skip tried to question him sternly but there was a smile on her lips. "Sorry about my brother. He can be a bit excitable when it comes to rare Pokémon."

"A friend of ours is similar." Billy said smirking while trying not to look at Luke who growled at him anyway.

"Anyways you might already know but I'm Skip and he's Flint." Skip said introducing herself and her brother. "Weird names I know but whatcha gonna do?" She said shrugging.

"Not as weird as my name." Bubbles said smiling before introducing herself as the rest of us followed.

"You guys seem like strong co-ordinators. These are very powerful Pokémon." Flint said grinning at us.

"Most of us are rookies." Bubbles admitted sheepishly. "Paula's the only one with a ribbon."

"The ribbons don't really matter." Skip said waving casually. "They're just a symbol really… a truly great co-ordinator can make their Pokémon look great no matter how many ribbons they have."

"One time me and Skip fought against this guy with three ribbons and we only had one ribbon and we managed to thrash him… we still don't know how he got those ribbons because his combinations were rubbish." Flint said pulling a face.

"Plus as far as I know that Jack guy doesn't have any ribbons and he's done the best appeal so far… maybe better than ours." Skip admitted.

"Now please welcome to the stage Lucy Pennington!" The announcer cried from the T.V as Lucy stood up.

"Well now you're about to see an even better appeal!" she proclaimed before strutting away.

"Does anyone have a pair of tweezers?" Skip asked randomly.

"Erm… no… why?" Paula asked cautiously.

"I just wanted them so that I could remove that stick from up her-"

"Skip!" Flint cut in frowning as the rest of us laughed.

**Paula's POV**

Despite Skip and Flint's messing around I was still nervous about Lucy's appeal. She was the best co-ordinator I knew here and I knew she'd be tough to beat. Lucy calmly walked onto the stage and stood in the middle.

"Go Dewgong and Vulpix!" she cried throwing two Poké balls into the air as her Pokémon appeared in a burst of light. "Dewgong use Icy wind!" Lucy commanded as her Dewgong unleash an icy wind surrounding the whole stage hiding both the Pokémon. "Vulpix use will-o-wisp!" Spheres of fire appeared in the wind as they were blown around the stage. Every so often you could catch a glimpse of Lucy's Pokémon due to the balls of fire but they remained more or less invisible in the small snow storm. "Now Flame-hail burst!" from the middle of the stage what looked like a comet burst into the sky enabling everyone to see the Pokémon clearly for a few minutes. Then the comet exploded making a rain of fire and hail clearing the icy wind and the will-o-wisps making the crowd cheer.

"Lucy managed to create an atmosphere of mystery with her Pokémon before clearing that mystery in a fabulous explosion!" Sarah announced. "If it was up to me she's be right in to the next round but it's the judge's decision! Let's hear what they have to say!"

"A brilliant harmony of fire and ice but I felt you could have shown off the Pokémon a bit more instead of just their moves." Nurse Joy said.

"I've never seen anything quite like this appeal…" Mr. Contesta murmured in surprise. "I'm sure Erika will agree with me that this was a truly brilliant sight! Right Erika?" Mr Contesta said turning towards her. "Erm Erika?" everyone turned to look at the young gym leader and gaped as despite all the excitement Erika had fallen asleep making Skip and Flint burst out laughing.

"That's hilarious! She fell asleep during the appeal!" Skip burst out through her laughs.

"Serves miss 'my appeal will be brilliant' right! Erika found it so boring she fell asleep!" Flint joined in.

"Erm… Erika?" Mr. Contesta said nudging her awake as she snapped up and blushed.

"Sorry it was so cold I found myself getting sleepy…" She admitted softly while rubbing her eyes as Billy turned bright red.

"Cute…" He muttered under his breath as I frowned.

"They grow up so fast." Liz said as Luke sniggered from her lap. "Seems like only few weeks ago he was dragging us towards the nearest gym and she was competing in a contest..."

"That WAS only a few weeks ago." I pointed out frowning.

"Don't worry Paula." Liz began patting my shoulder. "No need to be jealous of the pretty gym leader soon we'll be far away from here and you can have him all to yourself."

"What?" I questioned blinking. "Who?" Liz only raised her eyebrows at me as I turned away blushing slightly. "You're crazy."

"My parents met when they on a journey together." Skyla admitted smiling at us. "It's very romantic apparently they were two childhood friends who moved away from each other and ended up re-uniting through Pokémon."

"Sounds a bit like Liz and Luke." Bubbles said smirking at the pair of them as they both blushed.

"No way!" Peter proclaimed ruining the moment. "I'm the better comparison for that sort of story!"

"No you're not." Everyone else (bar Skip and Flint) said in unison.

"Please give it up for Lucy!" The announcer cried turning our attention back to the T.V. (which I was slightly thankful for) as Lucy marched off the staged looking furious.

"Now our next competitor is… Paula Haring!" I snapped my head up upon hearing my name. With all the fun and awkward conversations I completely forgot about being nervous and the feeling rushed back to me.

"You better go." Skyla said shoving me off the bench with a smile. "You'll be fine Paula." I took a deep breath and nodded before heading out onto the stage.

"Let's get going Alice and Felicity!" I cried loudly releasing my elderly Wartortle and my young Growlithe. "Felicity use Fire spin! Alice use Water spin!" I ordered as Felicity released a powerful fire spiral and Felicity jumped into a rapid spin while realising a water gun making a water spiral (hence the name water spin). The spirals of water and fire joined together making the crowd burst into cheers. "We're not finished yet! Felicity grab onto Alice! Alice use jump up and use Water gun! Felicity you need to use Fire spin at the same time! Alice then you need to use Protect!" I yelled as Alice stopped spinning and held Felicity in her arms as the two of them jumped and used their attacks (Water gun and Fire spin) to send them flying to the top of the spiral (which was just beginning to collapse). Alice grinned and formed a shield beneath the two of them as they rode down the fire-water spiral using the Protect as a surfboard making the crowd go wild as they landed smoothly onto the ground as the attack sunk harmlessly into the stage(the fire was put out by the water and the water was drained away).

"Wow! Talk about riding a fiery hot wave!" Sarah cried in amazement over the crowd's cheers. "I wonder what our judges have to say?"

"Your Wartortle was burnt a bit by a few stray flames." Nurse Joy pointed out as Alice looked at her (slightly burnt) shell in surprise. "Other than that it was a flawless appeal."

"A magnificent appeal!" Mr. Contesta boomed grinning. "These two Pokémon worked very well together! You can see their trust!" He said just as Felicity nuzzled against Alice probably apologizing for burning her as Alice stroke her head.

"Fire and water which normally don't work well together managed an extremely exciting combination." Erika said softly "Those two managed to defeat type classification with their teamwork." I let out a happy sigh and hugged my two loyal Pokémon (making Alice flinch slightly in pain) before running off the stage nearly bumping into the next co-ordinator on the way.

"Well done!" My friends cried clapping as I joined them.

"If that didn't get you through to the next round I don't know what will!" Bubbles said happily.

"I've got some burn heal for your Wartortle- Alice was it? -in my bag." Skyla said routing through her bag as I smiled gratefully as she passed me a green spray bottle.

"Come on Alice show me your burns." I said smiling as Alice backed off nervously not showing me her back. "What's wrong?" I asked her as she shook her head.

"Do you think she's allergic to burn heal?" Skip questioned.

"I don't think that's possible." Flint mused.

"Alice come on it will just be a couple of sprays then it will be over." I said smiling at my Pokémon who reluctantly headed towards me holding her tail over her shell. "Alice… move your tail please." I said firmly as Alice lowered her tail slowly making me gasp. On Alice back, as well as the slight burns, was a deep scar in her shell in an area which was normally hidden by her tail. Alice snatched the bottle out of my hands and sprayed it on herself before I could say anything. She handed the bottle back glaring at me as she did.

"That's one independent Pokémon you've got there Paula!" Skyla said smiling at me as I looked at Alice who had hidden her scar again. I was the only one who had seen her scar and Alice was still glaring at me as if she was daring me to say something. I decided to keep my mouth shut and Alice relaxed gratefully.

"That was a very… um… interesting combination…" Sarah said hesitantly turning my attention back to the screen making me gape. Everything was covered in a gooey stringshot and the judges and the audience did not look happy. The co-ordinator burst into tears and ran off before anyone could say anything else.

"Well there's one person who defiantly won't get through to the next round." Bubbles said in surprise as the rest of us nodded numbly. After a quick clean up the stage, the judges and audience were clean (though the audience didn't look much happier).

"Hopefully our next contestant won't as sticky." Sarah said laughing sheepishly at her awful attempt at humour as the audience's glares increased making her cough. "Please welcome to the stage Elizabeth Payne!" She cried making Liz flinch.

"Why do I feel like I've just been thrown to the lions?" she muttered before heading out onto the stage with Luke and Shadow running after her. I nervously turned my attention to the screen and noticed that the audience seemed a bit more relaxed noticing that Liz didn't have any bug or water types (the combination of both caused the gooey stringshot) with her but they were still tense and likely to react negatively no matter how good the appeal.

"Go on Liz you can do it!" Peter cried happily some next to us blowing a kiss to the screen as Liz shuddered as if she could feel it (though that might have been my imagination).

"Larry, Shadow." Liz said nodding at the pair of them as Luke jumped off her shoulder and the two of them ran to the middle of the stage.

"One of these days we'll have to work on Liz's battle cry." Billy muttered to himself.

"I know lots of people who don't shout out anything when a battle starts." Skyla said looking at him.

"Hush its starting!" Peter hissed before Billy could open his mouth. Without Liz saying anything Shadow disappeared using faint attack.

"She's like the Jack boy." Skip realised as I looked at her in confusion.

"Neither of them gave their Pokémon orders during the appeal round." Flint elaborated as I hid a smile. Of course the two of them didn't realise that the one who had thought of the appeal was Luke.

"It'll be the same for me." Billy acknowledged looking at Aurora and Adolfo who winked at him. "Though my appeal will be a lot different to this."

"I can't wait to see what two illusion Pokémon can achieve!" Flint said in excitement as we turned our attention back to the screen. Shadow appeared far away from Luke and the two nodded at each other before each fired a shadow ball. The two attacks collided with each other and the two shadow balls broke off into lots of little shadow balls. Shadow disappeared again and reappeared by the shadow segments in rapid speed destroying them with a quick bite. Luke was just as fast racing using agility from one segment to another destroying each one with a swift Meal claw attack making the crowd clap softly.

"Well that was a short and simple appeal!" Sarah cried.

"Simple?!" Skyla cried in outrage "Any idiot can see those Pokémon had to be highly trained to reach of those segments in time!"

"So let's hear what the judges have to say!" The announcer finished oblivious to Skyla's rage.

"This appeal managed to show both Pokémon's speed very well but their other talents weren't really broadcasted." Nurse Joy said

"I would have preferred if it was slightly more impressive..." Mr. Contesta said frowning

"Those Pokémon must have been very well trained." Erika said giving the first positive comment out of the judges while smiling at Luke and Shadow.

"Those judges they must have been blind or something!" Skyla raged as Liz re-joined us in the waiting room.

"I'm not that bothered by it." She said shrugging. "It was a pretty hastily put together appeal we couldn't do anything too advanced without practice. At least with Felicity and Alice they had lots of practice together… Lu-Larry and Shadow do have the bond and practise for double battles but not for appeals." Luke and Shadow nodded in agreement with Liz's words.

"I don't think the judges were in the best mood either…" Billy mused.

"They shouldn't judge one co-ordinator just cause the one before was rubbish!" Paula proclaimed angrily. An awkward silence followed this as Liz sat down with Luke jumping on her lap and Shadow sitting by her heels.

"Crap… Sparky and Sparkette don't have appeal practise either…" Bubbles realised as her Pokémon looked at each other.

"Chu Pi chupi!" Sparky said patting her arm as Bubbles smiled and nodded making Skip, Flint, Skyla and Peter look at each other in confusion.

"Strong bond." Liz offered by way of an explanation as they nodded slowly.

"Geez Liz some of your friends seem to understand Pokémon speech word for word!" Pete said laughing slowly as no one said anything.

"Next up is Skyla from Slateport city!" Sarah cried as Skyla stood up quickly.

"I'll see you guys in a few minutes!" she called before running onto the stage. The crowd clapped and cheered seeing Skyla as I remember she had originally come from Hoenn so had probably competed over there as well or was at least recognised for challenging the gyms.

"Vanessa and Linoone I need your assistance!" Skyla cried releasing her Espeon and her Linoone as the Poké balls produced hearts as they were opened.

"She must have a contest seal!" Peter cried in amazement.

"Contest seal?" I questioned in confusion.

"It's a sticker you can put on your Poké ball." Skip supplied though I was still a bit confused.

"It helps produces a pretty design when the Poké ball is opened." Flinted explained a bit more thoroughly.

"They're very common in places like Hoenn and in Sinnoh where contests are fairly popular." Skip added.

"But you can barely get a hold of them in Kanto and Johto where contests are fairly new." Flint finished with a sad sigh and I nodded in understanding.

"Linoone start things off with mud sport!" Skyla yelled bringing our attention back to the screen. Linoone slow a mud started flying into the air making some of the crowd wince remembering the stringshot incidence. "Vanessa use psychic!" the Espeon's eyes began to glow stopping the mud in mid-air (many of the audience members sighed with relief). "Vanessa use reflect!" Just below the floating mud several barriers appeared covering the whole stage. "Now use psychic!" Vanessa eyes began to glow as she floated the Linoone onto the barrier. "Slash and Psybeam!" the Linoone grinned and took off in a burst of speed as the slashed at the mud destroying each ball within a few seconds. The speed of the Linoone was impressive but each time it destroyed a mud ball there was a splatter. Vanessa calmly fired a Psybeam at the mud easily keeping up with the Linoone's speed. Each time the Psybeam hit the mud it turned into dust that looked a little like glitter. The two Pokémon destroyed the mud in harmony making the crowd burst into cheers.

"Wow wasn't that an amazing appeal?!" Sarah cried as the crowd cheered loudly. "As always though we have to hear what the judges have to say!"

"Your Linoone's fine fur got a bit ruined by the mud but otherwise a good appeal." Nurse Joy said nodding at the Pokémon that had lots of mud on its paws but only a few specks on its body.

"It's actually rather impressive how little mud is on that Linoone I can't believe Nurse Joy would take off points for something like that." Bubbles remarked frowning.

"That Linoone's speed was very impressive easily seeing as it managed to turn quickly to get the mud instead of crashing into things as Linoones that run at top speed often do." Mr. Contesta remarked nodding in approval.

"What was even more impressive was that Espeon managing to easily keep up with Linoone's speed and managing to produce a Reflect so powerful it can support another Pokémon at the same time!" Erika remarked in amazement before realising she had spoken quickly, loudly, and with excitement as she turned red and shrunk back to her shy self.

"So many appeals and so little time!" Sarah remarked as Skyla ran off the stage rejoining us quickly. "Our next contestant is Peter from Windswept Valley!" she cried as Peter stood up startled.

"That's my cue! Wish me luck?" He offered looking at Liz hopefully.

"Break a leg." She muttered not looking at him as he broke out into a grin. "No really. Break a leg." She stated but that didn't stop Peter's grinning.

"You're such a tease." He said giving her a wink before running onto the stage.

"Jolteon! Shuppet! Time to make an impact!" He cried releasing his two Pokémon. "Shuppet start things off with will-o-wisp!" his Shuppet began spinning around rapidly producing small spheres of fire that flew off randomly in different directions. "Jolteon use pin missile!" Jolteon produced many pins which all soared towards the spheres of fire destroying them quickly making small fireworks. "Let's kick it up a notch! Shuppet snip faster and use Shadow Ball! Jolteon use thunderbolt!" The Shuppet began spinning even faster and unleashed several Shadow balls. Jolteon's fur began crackling and it unleashed a large thunderbolt with the electricity connecting to each shadow ball. I noticed that each shadow ball had been hit and there wasn't any part of the thunderbolt that had hit nothing. "Now time to wrap this up! Shuppet full speed Will-o-wisp and Shadow ball!" Shuppet span even fast releasing lots of Shadow balls and spheres of fire. "Shock wave!" Peter ordered as Jolteon's fur began crackling again but with a lot more intensity then previously. Jolteon then fired a powerful wave of electricity throughout the stage destroying ever single sphere of shadow and fire. Shuppet managed to dodge over the electricity wave just in time making the crowd cheer.

"Amazing!" Sarah said happily as Peter recalled his Pokémon. "Judges what do you think?"

"A remarkable appeal!" Nurse Joy said smiling. "The Pokémon must have worked very hard to perfect this appeal!"

"Yes amazing!" Mr. Contesta agreed nodding.

"T-the Shuppet seemed a bit dizzy…" Erika stammered out shyly. "But other than that it was a brilliant appeal." Peter nodded at the judges before leaving the stage.

"So what did you think?" he asked us eagerly as an unremarkable person walked onto the stage.

"Surprisingly good." The twins said in unison.

"Yep you've gone and improved on me again!" Skyla jokingly laughed at Peter.

"What did you think Liz?" Peter asked eagerly.

"I don't know anything about appeals." Liz pointed out as Bubbles sighed.

"I know you don't like him but you've got to admit that wasn't half bad." She pointed out.

"I was impressed!" I said eagerly as Billy nodded in agreement.

"Thanks you guys but I would prefer if my lady love offered me some kind words." Peter said batting his eyes at Liz as Luke growled.

"Tell me what she says when she gets here." Liz said seriously as Peter gaped.

"Next up is Bubbles!" Sarah cried as Bubbles stood up in surprise.

"I guess that's me…" she muttered in surprise as her Pokémon jumped up on her shoulders.

"Remember it's not the amount of ribbons," Skip began.

"It's the amount of talent." Flint finished as Bubbles nodded at them before heading out onto the stage.

"Sparky! Sparkette!" Bubbles cried holding out her arm as her Pokémon ran down her arm jumping onto the stage. "Let sparks fly!" Bubbles cried with a small wink as her Pokémon grinned at each other. Sparkette and Sparky joined hands and span in a small circle producing small hearts in a move I recognised as sweet kiss. They kept holding hands making a charge beam attack between them. The two Pichus fired the charge beam at the hearts destroying them making turn into glitter as the crowd cheer. The Pichus grinned again and produced more Sweet kiss hearts looking like they were playing or dancing during the process. They formed another charge beam between them. Together, they walked up to the two nearest hearts as Sparky touched one heart and Sparkette touched the other. The charge beam went from the Pichus into the hearts. An electric connection fired from one heart to another connecting the hearts and the Pichus in a circle of electricity and hearts. The Pichus grinned again and both their cheeks began sparking and the electricity connecting the hearts began crackling wildly at the increase of power. Even the hearts began to hum and glow at the increase of power. The Pichus nodded and fired a combined thunder attack destroying the connection and the hearts in spectacular show of red electric fireworks as the crowd cheered loudly and the Pichus bowed in unison.

"Incredible! Just incredible!" Sarah cried in amazement. "Who knew two Pichus could produce such a spectacular show?!"

"Their team work was brilliant!" Nurse joy said smiling in happiness.

"Good show!" Mr. Contesta said nodding.

"Truly amazing." Erika whispered as Sparky and Sparkette high fived each other before jumping onto Bubbles's shoulders with a wink as she grinned at them before running off the stage.

"That was incredible you two!" Bubbles said happily to her Pokémon smiled back at her as she arrived back at the waiting room.

"Those are amazing Pichus!" Skyla complimented as the said Pokémon blushed.

"Now the only one of us who hasn't competed out of us is-" I began just as the announcer spoke up on the TV.

"Next up is a trainer who normally only goes after gym badges! We'll convert you into a co-ordinator yet- Billy Derringer!" Sarah cried out as Billy stood up in surprise with Aurora and Adolfo grinning in excitement.

"We better go!" He cried "Prepare for us to finish this with a bang!" He said grinning as he ran onto the stage with Aurora and Adolfo close to his heels. He arrived and whispered something into the one of the attendant's ears who nodded and gave Billy a microphone as all of us blinked.

"What's he up to?" I questioned as we looked and the screen in anticipation.

"Hello everybody!" Billy called as he, Aurora and Adolfo grinned at the crowd. "We'd like to do a slightly different appeal if you don't mind! Could somebody dim the lights and shine a spotlight on us please?" Everyone began murmuring as the lights were dimmed and Billy was basked in the spotlight. "Ahem. I'd like to tell everybody a story. Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess." Billy began as Aurora leapt of his shoulder and turned into her human form only this time she was wearing a beautiful dress as the crowd began to mutter. Not Zoruas had enough power to completely turn into a human especially if the human they were turning into wasn't nearby so they could use them for reference. Someone had enough sense to shine a spotlight on the newly transformed Zorua. "The princess and her loyal Zoura," Adolfo leapt onto Aurora's shoulder at this line. "were happily living together in a beautiful kingdom." Aurora's and Adolfo eyes glowed briefly (though this might have been a small illusion) and suddenly it looked like the stage and the audience seats were covered in beautiful flowers (making Erika gasp in amazement). On one of the walls of the contest hall there was an image of a palace as if it was in the distance. "However, this peace couldn't last forever!" Billy warned as some of the crowd began pointing at the ceiling were it looked like dark clouds were rolling in and the flowers looked like they were wilting. "The cause of this disruption? A terrible dragon!" Billy said in a terrifying voice as the roar of a dragon was heard making the crowd look around as a shadow appeared in the 'clouds'. Moments later it looked like a red dragon (unlike any real dragon type Pokémon) burst through the 'clouds' and landed into front of Aurora and Adolfo and breathed fire burning some of the remaining flowers. "The princess and her loyal Pokémon were unafraid of this threat! They decided to plunge into battle to protect the peace of the kingdom!" A sword appeared in Aurora's hand and she and Adolfo ran towards the dragon. "The battle raged for many days and nights!" a sun appeared in the 'sky' and it sunk down to be replaced by a moon only for the moon to sink down and the sun to reappear and Aurora and Adolfo made out they were fighting the dragon. In the background it looked like the fields and castle were being destroyed while the fighting was going on. "Both parties grew exhausted." Billy said as Aurora dropped her sword collapsed onto her knees as the dragon started coughing out smoke and gasping. "But the dragon drew in the last of it energy as its eyes began glowing…" The dragon breathed in as its eyes turned red. Aurora made a show of looking at it trying to lift up her sword before dropping it weakly as the crowd gasped in fear. Adolfo stood up on 'shaky' legs and glared and the dragon. "And just when it seemed all hope was lost-" Adolfo began glowing and in his place was a Zoroark as the crowd cheered. "Yes the princess's loyal Zoura evolved! But it still seemed still too weak to attack!" Adolfo made a show at forming a Shadow ball which disappeared in his hands as the dragon laughed. Adolfo glared and picked up Aurora's sword as the crowd cheered and he chopped the dragon in half. Immediately the flowers began growing again, the dark clouds disappeared and the castle returned to itself original state. The princess hugged her Zoroark and the two of them turned back into Zoruas and all of the illusions disappeared and the crowd cheered ecstatically and we gaped at the screen.

"Wow we got just watch we were promised! An appeal unlike anything we've seen before!" Sarah proclaimed.

"I'm speechless..." Nurse Joy said in amazement.

"I was unaware that two Zoruas could produce this quality and power of illusion… heck I'd be surprised if two Zoroarks managed to do this!" Mr. Contesta remarked.

"The story was a nice tough on a highly detailed appeal." Erika remarked as Aurora and Adolfo leapt onto Billy's shoulders and he headed back to the waiting area.

"That was amazing!" we all cried as he arrived into the room as Billy smiled bashfully. We watched the rest of the appeals but none of them seem up to the quality of ours. Finally, after an hour all of the co-ordinators had been and gone.

"We've seen all of the dazzling appeals and the judges have had some very tough decisions to make!" Sarah announced as the crowd muttered in anticipation. "The eight co-ordinators… going through to the next round… are-"

_**Congratulations you made it to the end! Here's your prize- some author notes!**_

_**Sorry for the long up date time but this was a fairly long chapter and I have been a busy bee recently! I had to battle sickness, completing work, my own laziness, and trying to sort out my future in the past month so I'm relieved to finally get this chapter out.**_

_**This is the first contest where for once the major characters fill up the whole thing and because of the length I actually broke it up into two parts although the battle half should be a bit shorter. I will be introducing some more characters gradually throughout the story so in the future contests and tournaments will have a lot more battles/ appeals in them. **_

_**In something that's completely unrelated I can't freaking wait for Pokémon X and Y! The grass type Chespin is adorable! I really like the fire type (which has a weird name which I can't remember…) as well though… and the water (Froakie- best name ever- lol) type…. Ahh I can't decide! Gen 6 Pokémon might make a sneaky appearance in this story eventually as I probably won't be finished by October…**_

_**That's it I'm done for now next chappie is the battle round! Prepare for a fight to the death! **_

_**T-t-t-that's all folks!**_


	46. Shining Stars pt 2

Shining Stars pt 2

**Paula's POV**

"We've seen all of the dazzling appeals and the judges have had some very tough decisions to make!" Sarah announced as we held each other's hands in nervousness. "The eight co-ordinators… going through to the next round… are-" We glanced at each other in anticipation. "Jack, Skip and Flint, Paula, Billy, Bubbles, Skyla, Peter and Liz!"

"Yes!" we all cheered in victory giving each other high fives in celebration while the other disappointed co-ordinators left the building. I noticed Lucy glaring at us before she walked determinedly out of the building. I knew we'd eventually see her again.

"So the weak ones have been picked off… and the strongest remain." A male voice said as we all turned to see the boy from the previous round known as Jack with his shiny Umbreon next to him.

"What is this survival of the fittest?" Liz asked with raised eyebrows. "It's only a contest…"

"Obviously." Jack said bluntly. "I wouldn't expect the girl who got in by a hairsbreadth to take this seriously. It's obvious your appeal was put together in perhaps… 5 minutes." He guessed as Liz cringed before grinning slightly.

"Good guess." She acknowledged nodding breaking the slightly tense atmosphere. The two Umbreon's looked at each other curiously sniffing each other's noses. Shadow nodded at the shiny who cocked her head slightly before nodding and turning away.

"I don't think I've seen so many shinnies in one place at one time…" I remarked in realisation looking at the shiny Umbreon, Luke, Sparky and Sparkette. "And to think they are supposed to be rare."

"Umbra." Jack remarked as we all looked at him. "Her name. Umbra." Luke grinned and winked at Shadow who scoffed. Umbra looked at Luke gaping before bowing her head immediately before licking the top off his head. "Interesting…" Jack remarked as all the Pokémon (especially Luke) looked shocked and slightly confused. "It seems Umbra respects your Eevee. She's proclaimed herself as his subordinate and pack member for some reason…" Jack looked at Luke with renewed interest as he began to fidget.

"And we're back!" Sarah cried turning our attention back to the T.V. "We're going to randomly shuffle the remaining co-ordinators for a chance to battle to win the Celadon or Shining Star Ribbon!" Each of our faces appeared on a card which was shuffled around a few times before revealing the order making us all gasp. "The ferocious first battle is Billy VS Paula! The spirited second battle is Skyla VS Peter! Terrifying third battle is Skip and Flint VS Liz! And the fantastic fourth battle is Jack VS Bubbles!" Sarah announced as the crowded cheered in excitement.

"This will be intense!" Billy cried with glee looking at me with Aurora and Adolfo on his shoulders.

"Why did we get one of the strongest trainer's straight away?" Bubbles asked sighing as her Pichus looked at Umbra nervously who looked straight back at them. Jack said nothing and shook Bubbles's hand.

"Look forward to battling you!" Skip cried happily shaking Liz's hand.

"I can't wait to see what your Pokémon can do!" Flint cried just as happily shaking Liz's other hand as she blinked at them in bemusement.

"Hey we rhymed!" The twins cried in unison looking at each other with identical grins.

"I can't wait to see your progress!" Skyla cried patting Peter on the back.

"Me neither! It's been a long time since we've had a serious contest battle!" Peter agreed.

"Let's get this party started!" Sarah cried as me and Billy stood up in unison and headed out onto the stage.

"That ribbon will be mine!" I declared confidently holding Alice and Felicity's Poké balls in my hands.

"You're going to have to battle us for it first!" Billy said grinning eagerly and Aurora smiled and Adolfo mock-growled.

"The first person to either knock out both their opponent's Pokémon or loses the most amount of points in the time limit is the winner!" Sarah cried as both of us nodded. "Begin!"

"Alice and Felicity let's get going!" I cried realising my Pokémon.

"Aurora! Adolfo! Let's do this thing!" Billy yelled as the two Zoruas jumped into battle.

"Water Spin Combo now!" I yelled quickly as Felicity unleashed a powerful fire spin and Alice combined rapid spin and water gun to make a water spiral. The two attacks combined and headed straight towards the Zoruas as Billy lost a few points.

"Aurora use Dig now! Both of you hide in the hole!" Billy ordered as the Zoruas dodged our attack making me lose points. "Adolfo now use faint attack!"

"Watch and listen out for him and attack him as soon as he appears!" I commanded as my Pokémon nodded staring at the hole. Suddenly, Adolfo appeared behind my Pokémon. "Behind you!" I warned as they turned too late as Adolfo slammed into Alice. The next thing I knew Aurora burst through the floor hitting Felicity with a dig attack making her cry out in pain. "Try and cope with the pain! Alice use Aqua tail and Felicity you use Fire Spin!"

"Aurora use double team to hide both of you!" Billy commanded. Alice's tail began to glow bright blue and Felicity fired a powerful fire spin at the Zoruas just as Aurora produced 10 other identical Zoruas dodging the attacks. "Adolfo use Shadow Ball! Aurora use Hidden power!" 11 of the Zoruas started using hidden power while just one started forming a shadow ball.

"Alice use aqua jet on that Zorua!" I yelled pointing to the odd one out. Alice launched herself in a jet of water hitting the Zorua only for it to disappear as I gasped in shock. "It was a clone?!"

"Forget about Aurora's and Adolfo's illusion abilities already?" Billy questioned smirking. "Now Hidden power and Shadow ball!" the clones all disappeared leaving only two Zorua smirking straight in front of Felicity as their attacks slammed directly into her knocking her out as my points decreased dramatically. "One down one to go!" Billy taunted as I recalled Felicity.

"We're not giving up! Alice use Surf!" I ordered as Alice took in a deep breath, raised both her arms and a giant wave appeared behind her.

"Adolfo use night slash! Aurora use Cut! Break that wave in half!" Billy yelled quickly. The two Zoruas looked nervously at the giant wave ploughing towards them and leapt into air somersaulting and releasing their attacks. The wave didn't stop as they kept spinning desperately releasing many attacks until the wave collapsed harmlessly into the ground.

"And that's time!" Sarah cried suddenly as the two of us looked up from the battle field in surprise. "And the winner is…. Billy Derringer!" she cried as the crowd cheered happily.

"No way…" I said sighing unhappily while recalling Alice.

"We won! Oh yes! We beat Paula in a contest!" Billy cheered happily dancing as Aurora and Adolfo looked at him making him blush and stop in embarrassment. His blush only increased as he heard Erika giggling from the judge's table.

"You do realise you'll be battling for a ribbon you don't want?" I pointed out smiling at him as realisation dawned on his face.

"I guess I'll give the ribbon to you if I win…" Billy mused slowly.

"I don't want your pity ribbon!" I snapped before sighing. "How would you feel if someone just gave you a badge?" I pointed out as Billy pulled a face. "Exactly." I said smugly.

"You don't need to worry about giving someone else the ribbon!" A familiar voice called as we turned to see Skyla and Peter heading towards us.

"Yer because I'm the one whose going to win it in our battle Billy." Skyla proclaimed as Peter glared at her.

"What are you talking about? It will obviously be me who will win that ribbon!" Peter challenged.

"In your dreams!" Skyla said laughing.

"Excuse me we need to start on the battle," Sarah reminded us interrupting the banter.

"We better be off then." I acknowledged.

"Good luck." Billy said nodding at both of them.

"You'll need it in the next round!" The two of them proclaimed grinning.

**Luke's POV**

"It's too bad you lost." Bubbles comforted Paula as she and Billy re-joined of us.

"One of us had to lose." Paula said maturely with a soft sigh.

"Your Pokémon battled very well." Aurora acknowledged. "No need to be disappointed." She said as Bubbles translated and Paula nodded in agreement.

"Now for our second battle! Skyla Vs Peter!" Sarah announced as we all watched the T.V.

"Shuppet and Jolteon! The stage is yours!" Peter cried releasing his Pokémon.

"Vanessa and Linoone! It's your time now!" Skyla cried releasing her Espeon and Linoone.

"Start things off Pin missile and Will-o-wisp!" Peter cried quickly.

"Stop those missiles with Psychic! Put out the fire with Mud spout!" Skyla ordered calmly. Jolteon and Shuppet fired their attacks in unison which flew straight towards Skyla's team. Vanessa's eyes began glowing a bright blue easily stopping all the pins in mid-air. Linoone dashed forwards snuffing the fire out quickly with mud spouts. Peter's points decreased as his failed attack didn't hit. "Spend those pins back!" Skyla yelled as all the pins flew back towards Peter's team.

"Thunderbolt!" Jolteon's fur began crackling and it unleashed a powerful thunderbolt destroying the pins making small fireworks as Skyla's points decreased. "Now Shadow ball with another Thunderbolt!" Peter ordered. His Shuppet fired several Shadow balls and his Jolteon fired a Thunderbolt at them combining the two attacks creating attacks of shadow and electricity.

"Use reflect!" Skyla yelled as a pink barrier appeared protecting her Pokémon from the oncoming attacks.

"It will take more than that to stop our attack!" Peter proclaimed as the electric Shadow Balls easily broke through the barrier.

"Then we'll create a combination of our own!" Skyla proclaimed "Psybeam and Hyper beam combo!" Vanessa unleashed a purple/red beam from the jewel on her forehead while her Linoone fired a powerful hyper beam. The two attacks combined to create a powerful golden beam which easily destroyed the electric shadow balls.

"Quickly destroy that beam!" Peter cried in despair. Jolteon fired a powerful thunderbolt, while Shuppet fired a Night shade attack at it. Their attacks did nothing as the beam slammed into them knocking them both out.

"Both of Peter's Pokémon have been knocked out! Therefore the winner is Skyla!" Sarah cried out as the crowd cheered loudly.

"You were brilliant you two!" Skyla cried happily hugging her Pokémon as they licked her cheeks making her giggle.

"Guess I'm still not at your level yet…" Peter said recalling his Pokémon. "I couldn't do anything about your final attack…"

"Don't worry about it… even I didn't know how it would turn out because we haven't used that combination yet." Skyla said sheepishly as the two of them shook hands and left the stage.

"It's our turn now Liz!" I cried grinning eagerly jumping to the ground joining Shadow as we headed to the stage.

"Don't expect us to go easy on you!" The twins cried grinning.

"That would be expecting too much." Liz remarked rolling her eyes.

"Go Matches!" Flint cried releasing his Litwick.

"Go Strike!" Skip yelled releasing her Electrike. I grinned as Shadow and I ran onto the field. It had been a while since the two of us had battled together.

"Double team and shadow ball!" the twin cried as we were surrounded by Litwick and Electrike clones.

"Shadow use confuse ray!" Liz shouted quickly as Shadow's eyes began glowing and all the clones began staggering around with some of them attacking each other making at least half of them disappear. Unfortunately, some managed to fire shadow balls at us despite the confusion. "Luke use metal claw to destroy them!" I ran forwards easily destroying the shadow balls.

"Faint attack!" Flint cried

"Thunder wave!" Skip ordered as Litwick disappeared and slammed into Shadow. Before Liz or I could react Electrike struck me with a thunder wave paralyzing me and preventing me from moving.

"Are you okay? Luke? Shadow?" Liz asked as we both nodded making her sigh with relief. "Shadow use Screech! Luke use Quick attack!" Shadow let out an ear splitting screech as the opposite team winced and I dashed forwards slamming into the Electrike.

"Strike don't let it get away again! Use Spark!" Skip yelled

"Matches help Strike with Will-o-wisp!" Flint exclaimed.

"Luke dodge them using Agility! Shadow you use Faint attack!" Liz directed quickly. The Litwick released thousands of fire spheres into the air as Electrike began to spark. Shadow disappeared in a faint attack and I knew he'd be alright as I attempted to dash away but froze because of the paralysis. I struggled to move Shadow appeared in front of me firing Shadow balls trying to protect us both. It was too little to late though as the attacks slammed into us and we cried out in pain.

"Luke! Shadow!" Liz cried out as I weakly opened my eyes but made no other attempt to move.

"Time's up!" Sarah cried out as we sighed in disappointment. "The winners are… Skip and Flint! Congratulations!"

"Next round here we come!" the twins cheered giving each other a high five.

"Are you two okay?" Liz asked, walking up to us.

"We'll be fine." Shadow said standing up slowly.

"Just give us a few hours rest and we'll be right as rain." I said wincing as I stood on my paw where a will-o-wisp had hit me. Liz sighed and picked me up as I smiled gratefully.

"That was a great battle!" Skip cried in excitement.

"Yep! I hope we'll be able to challenge you again sometime!" Flint agreed in anticipation.

"Somehow I don't think that's going to happen any time soon." Liz muttered softly but the twins didn't hear her as we all left the stage and joined the others in the waiting room.

"At this rate I'll be the only one in our group who goes through to the next round!" Billy complained loudly as we arrived.

"Hey don't put us down before we've even battled!" Sparky cried out as Bubbles translated.

"You will be." Jack said softly as we all looked at him. "No offense." He said glancing at Bubbles who looked at him. "Your Pokémon seem strong and have good teamwork. I just don't think they'll be able to defeat my team." He said shrugging.

"There's an old saying 'don't count your Pokémon before they're caught'." Paula pointed out glaring.

"I'm not trying to be rude. I'm just stating my opinion on the matter." Jack said in a neutral tone of voice.

"We'll do our best to prove your opinion wrong." Bubbles said with a determined nod and small smile.

"We better get going." Jack muttered as he and Bubbles, with Sparky, Sparkette and Umbra following them, headed out onto the stage.

"Here's our final match before the second round! On the left we have Bubbles and on the right we have Jack!" Sarah cried as the crowd cheered as the two faced each other.

"Umbra, Rocky it's time to battle." Jack muttered as he released his Salamence and his Umbreon ran onto the field.

"Sparky! Sparkette! Make sparks fly!" Bubbles cried eagerly as her two Pichus jumped off her shoulders and onto the field. "Start things off with double Charge beam!" the two Pichus joined hands and began to form a charge beam attack between them.

"Dodge." Jack ordered simply as Umbra jumped onto Rocky's back and they easily dodged the electric beam. "Umbra curse. Rocky double edge." Jack's Umbreon began glowing red in a curse attack as this energy was transfer to both Pokémon. Salamence began flying towards the Pichus at a high speed.

"Duck!" Bubbles cried as the Pichus dived onto the ground narrowly avoiding the oncoming dragon. "Now grab onto its tail and shock as hard as you can!" The two Pichus jumped up onto Rocky who grunted and started shaking its tail while somersaulting trying to shake them off as they released a powerful thundershock making both Rocky and Umbra wince.

"Umbra. Remove them from Rocky's back." Jack ordered casually as the Umbreon dashed forwards despite the pain and fired a shadow ball at the pair of them knocking them back onto the ground.

"Double sweet kiss! Try to confuse them!" Sparky and Sparkette rolled onto their backs and fired several sweet kisses at the two Pokémon.

"Flamethrower." Jack ordered as Rocky spun around quickly and unleashed a powerful flamethrower easily destroying all of the sweet kisses. "Now Dragon Pulse and Psychic."

"Dodge it!" Bubbles cried in distress. The dragon pulse was unleashed as the psychic surrounded it. The two Pichus dashed out of the beam's way and grinned in triumph only to gape in horror as the beam changed direction following them. "Use charge beam! Destroy it!" Sparky and Sparkette joined hands and fired a powerful charge beam attack at the dragon pulse-psychic combo. The two attacks collided fighting for dominance until eventually the dragon pulse-psychic combo burst through the charge beam slamming into the Pichus making them cry in pain and fly through the air as Bubbles quickly caught them and they fainted in her arms.

"Both of Bubbles's Pokémon have fainted! Therefore the winner is… Jack!" Sarah cried as the crowd applauded and cheered and Jack and Bubbles left the stage re-joining us. "Just to remind you the battles in the next round are Billy Derringer Vs Skyla Nimbus! The second battle is Skip and Flint Vs Jack!"

"We finally get to battle!" Skyla said eagerly looking at Billy.

"Don't expect this to be easy!" Billy cried as Aurora and Adolfo jumped onto his shoulders.

"We won't be holding back against you!" The twin proclaimed to Jack who nodded.

"You're strong opponents. I can't predict how this battle might end." Jack said as Billy and Skyla left onto the stage and we all looked at the TV.

"Aurora! Adolfo! Let's do this thing!" Billy cried as the Zoruas leapt onto the stage.

"Vanessa! Linoone! It's your time now!" Skyla yelled releasing her Espeon and Linoone.

"Adolfo use Faint attack! Aurora use your illusion abilities to hide yourself and use Cut! Take out the Espeon!" Billy ordered quickly as both Zoruas disappeared.

"Linoone use Odor Sleuth to find them!" Linoone fired a bright light into the air as both Zoruas shimmered into view looking surprised. "Vanessa use Swift!" Before they could react, Vanessa fired a series of golden stars at them knocking them back as they whimpered in pain.

"Don't give up! Adolfo use Night Slash!" Adolfo produced a series of shadows which easily destroyed the star reducing them to gold glitter. "Aurora use Dig!" Aurora quickly dug a hole disappearing beneath the earth.

"Linoone you use Dig as well! Don't let that Zorua get away!" Linoone quickly followed behind Aurora into the ground.

"Adolfo help Aurora! Go into the hole!"

"Stop it with reflect Vanessa!" Adolfo tried to leap into the newly dug hole but was blocked by a pink barrier as he gritted his teeth and tried to push through but with no success. Suddenly, the earth in the middle out the stage flew into the air and in the middle of it was Aurora, looking fairly injured, as the Linoone leapt up after her and head butted her into the ground knocking her out.

"Time's up!" Sarah cried as Adolfo ran over to his sister nudging her awake. "The winner is… Skyla!"

"I can't believe that none of our group got through to the finals…" Paula muttered in surprise.

"Not really that surprising… there are a lot of talented co-ordinators here." I pointed out as Liz translated. We all looked at the T.V. again and saw Skip, Flint and Jack walking onto the stage as Billy, Aurora, Adolfo and Skyla joined us.

"Time for the next battle the winner of this will be fighting Skyla in the finals!" Sarah pointed out even though everyone watching knew this.

"Don't expect any mercy." Jack said as his Umbreon ran onto the field and he released his Salamence.

"Back at yer!" The twins cried in unison releasing their Litwick and Electrike.

"Rocky begin with Dragon Pulse. Umbra use Psychic."

"Double double team!" The Salamence let loose a powerful Dragon pulse attack which the Umbreon controlled with psychic. Litwick and Electrike split into many different clones as the beam blasted through them all destroying them as quickly as they were created but the real ones were nowhere to be found. "Now electric Shadow ball!" A shadow ball surrounded by electricity slammed into Salamence as it cried in pain and flew higher into the air narrowly avoiding the other electric shadow balls being blasted at it.

"Rocky use Draco meteor. Umbra use Wish." Umbra fired a star into the air as Rocky fired a meteor at it.

"Thunder!" Skip screamed as her Electrike began crackling and a huge lightning bolt came down from the sky destroying the star, the meteor and finally crashing down onto Salamence and Umbreon as the two cried in pain.

"Don't let them take the advantage! Umbra Curse! Rocky Flamethrower!" Jack cried loudly.

"Dodge it!" Umbra began glowing red as the power transferred from it into Rocky and it unleashed at huge flamethrower at the twin's Pokémon. Electrike narrowly managed to dodge as Litwick was engulfed and couldn't be seen.

"Matches!" Flint cried in horror as the flamethrower cleared and all that could be seen was a puddle of wax and we all gaped.

"Did that Litwick just-?" Paula began.

"Melt? Yes." Liz confirmed in disbelief.

"Is it dead?" Bubbles asked looking horrified. We all turned pale at this thought until Skyla shook her head.

"I don't think so… it is a part ghost type after all... it's possible that its spirit is still around even though its body has melted… at least I hope that's the case…" Skyla thought aloud though none of us were particularly reassured by this.

"It seems as though Litwick has… um… disappeared!" Sarah cried as everyone looked at her with horror.

"Surely they can't continue now…" Billy said with some dread.

"Now Faint attack!" Flint cried suddenly as Litwick appeared out of nowhere (causing a huge sigh of relief) and slammed into Umbra knocking her off Rocky's back.

"Spark!" Skip cried before Jack had a chance to react to Litwick's re-appearance as her Electrike fired a powerful spark of electricity at Rocky as it cried out with pain.

"Time's up!" Sarah yelled. "And the clear winners from beyond the grave are Skip and Flint! They will battle Skyla for the Celadon ribbon!" Jack and the twins rejoined us a few moments later as we all looked at them.

"Don't ever do that again. You guys almost gave me a heart attack." Bubbles scolded the twins as they walked in.

"How did you do it that anyway?" Billy asked eagerly.

"I would like to know as well." Jack agreed while Umbra nodded.

"Well Litwick is a part fire type so flamethrower didn't really effect it too much… we used the flamethrower as a cover to start off faint attack… the wax must have just been some excess that dripped off." Flint said with a cheeky grin and small shrug.

"I have to admit I was worried when I saw it but luckily all the training you did in move disappearing tactics worked." Skip said patting her brother on the back.

"Well now that I've seen that tactic don't expect it to work against me!" Skyla cried clenching her fist in determination.

"Yes. Only a fool would fall for the same tactic twice. Especially if it is used so soon." Jack said nodding. "Don't expect me to be caught unawares again."

"Don't worry you two!" Skip cried grinning.

"We have lots of different tricks up our sleeves!" Flint finished.

"I look forward to it!" Skyla said eagerly as the three of them walked onto the stage.

"Here it is! The final battle! The winner will earn the Celadon ribbon!" Sarah cried as the crowd cheered eagerly. "On the left we have Skyla Nimbus Hoenn's co-ordinating and battle queen! On the right we have the definition of teamwork and unity the co-ordinating twins Skip and Flint! Who will emerge in a blaze of glory?"

"Strike!"

"Matches!" The twins released their Litwick and Electrike for the last time.

"Vanessa! Linoone!" Skyla cried as her Espeon and Linoone ran on the field.

"Double double team!" the twins cried quickly as their Pokémon split into clones.

"Trap them with reflect!" Skyla cried quickly as her Espeon eyes began glowing and a pink barrier trapped all of the clones. "Now use thunderbolt!" Linoone's fur began crackling as it unleashed a powerful bolt of electricity toward the barrier which absorbed the energy and began firing electricity at the clones making them disappear and the real Pokémon to cry out in pain.

"Strike absorb that electricity!" Skip cried as the electricity was absorbed into the Electrike and the Pokémon began sparking with excess energy. "Now Thunder!" Electrike unleashed a blinding lightning bolt struck the barrier making everyone wince as the barrier glowed with the electricity's light and then was destroyed into pink dust. Suddenly, millions of will-o-wisps slammed into Skyla's Pokémon before anyone had a chance to react as they had been created when everyone was blinded. Her Pokémon cried out with the pain of being burnt and Skyla bit her lip.

"Try to overcome the pain! Linoone use your speed and hit that Electrike with slash! Vanessa hit that Litwick with Psybeam!"

"Match speed with speed Strike and don't let it hit you!"

"Matches play hide and seek with Faint attack!" The two speediest Pokémon immediately dashed off. While Linoone seemed to be the quicker of the two Electrike had no issues making sharp turns in an effort to escape while Linoone had to slow to corner making the two Pokémon almost equals. Linoone approached the Electrike as it once again tried to turn but Linoone had anticipated this and immediately slashed where the Electrike had turned. However, the moment the attack connected the Electrike let out a powerful spark attack as the Linoone yelped in pain. Linoone managed to keep its attack up as the Electrike slide backwards as the attack connected. On the other side of the field, Litwick was laughing cheekily as a frustrated Espeon fired another Psybeam at it only for it to pull a face, disappear and re-appear elsewhere.

"Vanessa calm down! Use the combo we've been working on!" Skyla called out as Vanessa's eyes began to glow and Reflect barriers appeared randomly about the field. Litwick re-appeared behind the barrier and laughed at the Espeon as it fired another Psybeam as Litwick disappeared. However the Psybeam collided with a barrier and immediately started travelling around the field each time hitting a new barrier and changing direction. Litwick couldn't hold its faint attack out any longer and the second it re-appeared it was slammed in the back by the attack.

"You're really tough Skyla!" Skip called out obviously impressed.

"Yep a truly great opponent!" Flint agreed as their Pokémon struggled to their feet.

"But there's a reason we have one co-ordinating pass between us! You can't beat our teamwork!" The twins cried in unison.

"I'll show you! Let's see if you can defeat my experience and my Pokémon who have travelled through Hoenn and Kanto's teamwork!" Skyla taunted as her Pokémon gritted their teeth against the burn and looked determined.

"Phantom's thunder!"

"Psychic bolts!" Strike and Matches immediately split into millions of clones via double team and Litwick started using Nightshade hiding all of the clones from sight. Vanessa's jewel began glowing providing a bright source of light as Linoone's fur began to crackle with electricity while it simultaneously formed an ice beam attack in its mouth. Linoone fired the ice-beam and thunderbolt into the air as Vanessa immediately stating to merge the two attacks together with psychic creating a giant ball of blue electricity. Meanwhile, the air within the night shade attack began to spark with electricity and occasionally one could glimpse either of Litwick or Electrike as the haze began to move faster. "Finish them!" Vanessa's eyes began glowing even brighter and the blue electricity immediately split into thousands of different attacks. The blue lightning rained down onto the stage illuminating the darkness of the nightshade. It seemed like thousands of clones were destroyed and everyone gasped in amazement as the thunderbolt-ice beam rained down. When it struck, it left blue glitter and a small amount of ice. No one could tell if the real Electrike and Litwick had been hit as the night haze began to spin clockwise crackling with even more electricity and absorbing the blue lightning.

"Our turn!" The twins cried as 10 Litwicks and Electrikes jumped out of the haze.

"Vanessa!" Skyla warned as her Espeon's eyes began to glow and the blue lightning immediately headed for the Pokémon. The Litwicks began spinning their arms around and the electric night haze immediately headed towards the blue lighting and the two attacks collided with the electric night haze winning. "Full power Vanessa and Linoone!" Skyla's Pokémon re-doubled their efforts with the blue psychic lighting slamming into the electric night haze spiral as the two attacks fought for dominancy. Suddenly, Skyla's Pokémon burst into flame because of the earlier burn providing a small but needed distraction as the electric nightshade slammed into them.

"Time's up!" Sarah cried as both Skyla and the twins snapped up in surprise. "The winner of the Celadon city contest is… Skip and Flint!"

"Yes!" The twins cried in unison spinning around and give each other a high five while their Pokémon mimicked their actions.

"Yes Skip and Flint are Celadon city's shining stars! Give them a hand folks!" the crowd went positively wild as the twins waved happily towards them. Skyla slowly approached her Pokémon and patted them both on the head.

"You guys did really well I'm proud of you." She said before recalling her exhausted Pokémon as the twins approached her and each of the shook one of her hands in unison.

"Congratulations!" Flint said grinning.

"It's not often we have this much fun when battling!" Skip agreed.

"I really enjoyed myself as well. You guys earned that ribbon." Skyla said smiling at the pair of them.

"Skip and Flint! Come onto the stage and claim your prize!" Sarah cried holding out two identical green ribbons with small stars near the ends.

"Alright! We got the Celadon ribbon!" The twins holding their prize up to the sky as the crowd cheered loudly. In the waiting room we all clapped and cheered along even though they couldn't hear us. The twins and Skyla re-joined us remarkably quickly after this and we spent the rest of the day exploring Celadon. Unfortunately, it we was all too soon until we had to say goodbye.

"Please travel with us!" Paula begged our new friends who looked sheepishly at each other.

"Erm..."

"Well…"

"The thing is…"

"No." Jack said bluntly cutting off the other three who had been trying to say the same thing but in a nicer way.

"But your really good at battling and you'll defiantly be a good member to have." Billy said trying to convince him.

"And you guys can help me with my contest technique! It will be a lot more fun travelling in a larger group!" Paula agreed.

"You can't force them to come with us you know." Bubbles pointed out making Billy and Paula look sheepish and Jack, Skyla and the twins to sigh with relief.

"No offense to you guys…" Flint began

"I mean you seem really great and all…" Skip continued rubbing the back of her neck.

"But we'd rather travel with just the two of us…"

"We're so used to being a tag-team it would be strange to suddenly be part of a group." The twins blurted out in unison as Billy and Paula sighed in unison and turned their hopeful eyes onto Skyla and Jack.

"No. I don't know you guys." Jack pointed out bluntly. "While travelling with you would certainly be… interesting-" He glanced at his Umbreon who for some reason was still sitting by me. "I do not particularly want to watch a boy with only three badges fight against Erika –as if it's actually a challenge." Jack scoffed at the last line as Skyla turned bright red because she had lost against her.

"The contest and the gym battle showed me that we still have a lot of work to do." Skyla admitted slowly. "We have to get back into our training regime if we want to stand any hope for the upcoming tournament in Fuchsia City."

"Wait… tournament?!" Everyone questioned in unison gaping at Skyla making her blink.

"Of course. Haven't you heard of it?" She questioned as everyone gave her a blank look. "It's meant to be a really big deal. Lots of brilliant trainers will be there. Apparently you can only attend with 4 or more badges."

"Sounds… interesting." Jack said grinning somewhat evilly. "It seems we will meet again sooner than I expected." He said ominously before walking away with Umbra giving me one last nod before running after him.

"I'd better get going as well. You know what they say about the early bird and the worm!" Skyla remarked waving as she walked away.

"Take care of yourselves!" Skip remarked smiling.

"Next time you're in a contest you'll probably won't be battling both of us. So you might actually stand a chance!" Flint added cheekily before the two of them left as well.

"I'm defiantly going to enter that tournament." Billy remarked clenching his fist.

"Oh joy." Liz remarked rolling her eyes.

"At least this one won't be held on a sinkable ship." I pointed out as she sighed.

"Before that aren't you forgetting about a certain gym leader?" Bubbles asked nudging Billy as he turned bright red.

"Something tells me you'll be too busy gawking and no time fighting." Paula muttered folding her arms.

"Hey I always take battles seriously! I defeated you didn't I? And I don't even like contests!"

"I personally put your victory on Aurora and Adolfo." Paula remarked looking smug. "You haven't defeated me with your own Pokémon yet!"

"She does have a point." Adolfo remarked over Billy's spluttering. "I mean we are awesome." Aurora just laughed in agreement of her brother as Billy glared at the two of them.

"I'll show you guys! I'm going to earn the Celadon city badge!" Billy proclaimed marching off.

"Isn't he going the wrong way?" Liz mused staring after him as the rest of us gaped before giving chase.

_**Two weeks- till two months that review made me laugh :D though its true lately I have been really busy recently though…**_

_**And how would a Sceptile use a computer? Wouldn't its hands be too big? All I can think of is a Sceptile using bullet seed to hit the keys now :D… and then getting frustrated and destroying the whole thing (including the desk (if you have one), chair (my chair is the most annoying, uncomfy thing in the world so I wouldn't mind that being destroyed) and parts of the walls) with leaf blade.**_

_**And yes I know Sarah isn't the normal name for the contest announcer but I couldn't think of the proper name so I used the first name I could think of- which happened to be Sarah. I used the name Sarah for the announcer in the last contest as well but it phased out basically as soon as it started but it got so irritating repeating 'the announcer' I decided to give her a name and stick to it. I'd do it for the referee as well but he doesn't have nearly as many lines as Sarah does when he appears. But if I get really annoyed I'll name the referee… Brian or something like that. Besides a rose by any other name is just as sweet and she'll only appear every 10 chapters or so if the story continues this nice little flow (though the next contest should be less than 10 chapters away, the contest after that might be more than 10 chapters away but after that I can't really guess).**_

_**Random fact of the chapter!- the battles actually were randomly selected this time because I couldn't decide who to fight who first. Though obviously the winner(s) was decided at the beginning of the chapter.**_

_**Another random fact!- Bubbles was originally going to win but when I created Skip and Flint I decided that they should win instead.**_

_**Watch out for the next chapter! Finally the battle for the fourth badge will be here! If anyone has an idea for a title feel free to suggest something because the best I'm coming up with is 'The Rainbow flower' **_

_**Hopefully it shouldn't take too long though I can't make any promises I'm sorry to say I probably only be less busy around May.**_


	47. The Rainbow Flower

**Who's that authoress?... It's sisno2200 (In case you didn't guess ****)! Sorry for the long update time I've been suffering from laziness and writer's block… I have no excuse... well my internet was broken for most of April but that excuse doesn't count for the other two months I suppose it was just difficult to get myself motivated enough to finish this chapter… that and I got sucked into the vortex known as Harry Potter Fan fiction (mainly about Snape)… Sorry *bows* in apology**

**The Rainbow Flower**

**Liz's POV**

I stared at the impressive building in front of us gawking over Billy's shoulder.

"Well… Erika sure knows how to decorate…" Luke remarked taking a picture. We were standing outside the gym but instead of the bland building the other gyms had been we were surrounded by flowers. The whole building looked like a giant greenhouse and even the sign of the gym was made up of different types of flowers. In fact if there wasn't a sign I'd be convinced we were in the wrong place.

"Whatever you do don't storm in. You'll probably break the building to pieces." I told Billy who remarkably listened to me and crept in quietly (even though he couldn't understand me so whether he actually listened is debatable).

"Plants are such delicate things. The amount of water, the condition of the soil, the temperature differences, the changing weather... All those little things we don't think about can have such a huge effect." We heard a voice explaining and turned see the gym leader Erika explaining to a group of wide eyed students as she planted a small tree delicately into the earth.

"Ahem." Billy coughed loudly causing Erika and her students to look up with surprise.

"Oh… Hello." Erika said with a welcoming smiling as Billy turned bright red and I smirked. "Lovely weather, isn't it?" She questioned politely.

"Um…." Billy looked around the garden slowly as sunlight streamed in from the ceiling. "Sure I suppose…"

"Are you here for the class? You're a bit late I suppose but there's still time to learn." Erika remarked smiling.

"Well… actually…" Billy began awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. It was a huge difference from the boy who normally just stormed into a gym and demanded a battle.

"Oh! I'm sorry… you came here for a battle?" Erika realised blinking in surprise.

"I would have thought the sign outside the building would have given that away." I remarked rolling my eyes slightly.

"Well this is more of a flower garden then a battle field." Luke muttered to me.

"I- um… Yes!" Billy stammered out as the children gasped in excitement.

"Wow a real life gym challenger!"

"Can we stay and watch?!"

"He doesn't stand a chance against Erika!" different children called out as Erika silenced them by raising her hand slightly.

"Now now children. Tommy you shouldn't judge Mr…" Erika trailed off looking at Billy.

"Derringer. I'm Billy Derringer."

"Ah you were in the contest weren't you?" Erika realised looking at him before looking over the rest of us. "And so were your friends! How marvellous! As I was saying you shouldn't judge Mr Derringer before he's had a chance." Erika scolded making one of the little boys burn with a bright red colour. The kid was almost as red in the face as Billy was I realised with a smirk. "And you should know by now you can't stay and watch the fumes might affect you." The children groaned in annoyance as Erika turned to Billy. "Might I inquire how many badges you have obtained?"

"I have three badges." Billy supplied and Erika nodded as if she had expected this.

"Very well. We shall have a 4 vs. 4 for your fourth badge. If you don't mind can you send out the Pokémon you plan on using?"

"What? Why?" Billy questioned in surprise.

"We have a slightly different system in this gym. I see the Pokémon you plan on using and in return you can choose the Pokémon I use." Erika explained making us all blink.

"Seriously?" Bubbles questioned. "Doesn't seem like a very gym leaderish thing to do…"

"It's actually quite clever." Luke pointed out. "The challenger has no clue what these Pokémon can do so it's more humiliating if they lose against the Pokémon they choose."

"But nothing can stop them choosing Pokémon that they know a lot about or that they have a lot of experience in battling…" Aurora pointed out.

"Maybe Erika uses her grass types in an unexpected way." Luke mused with a shrug.

"Ok then. I agree." Billy said nodding. "Go!" Billy threw his Poké balls into the air and Steve, Laura and Nicolas appeared in burst of light.

"Billy… you only sent out three Pokémon." I pointed out as he looked at me frowning. "Oh fine then!" I sighed as I jumped to ground. "It was worth a try..."

"You know it never would have worked." Steve pointed out nudging me playfully.

"It is an honour to be chosen for a duel for Master Billy!" Nicolas scoffed at me. "Honestly Lady Pichu! Are you a man or a mouse?!"

"Do you really expect me to answer that?" I asked raising an eyebrow. "Technically I'm a mouse Pokémon and female."

"Gess dat akes yo a ouse." Laura pointed out as Steve laughed.

"We shall explore the garden." Erika announced. "If you see a Pokémon you wish to battle just say." Erika waved the children and they dashed off. I could hear them calling to the Pokémon as they went. "Shall we?" Erika gestured to the garden leading us down a small dirt trail.

"This place is really huge…" Aurora muttered looking around with wide eyes as Paula sneezed.

"Too much pollen…" She muttered bitterly with her eyes watering slightly.

"Hey what's this?!" Steve asked looking at a strange large flower in amazement. He sniffed it before pulling a face. "Ug! That stinks!"

"Hey! That's no way to treat a lady!" a voice called in anger. We looked around but couldn't see anyone.

"abye the ollen is aking us azy…" Laura suggested looking around.

"We were already crazy to begin with. Travelling with Billy just proves that." I pointed out.

"I said that!" The voice cried out again and the flower began to tremble as a Gloom burst out of the soil and Steve yelped and jumped in fear. "You need to treat ladies with more respect young man!" The Gloom scolded waving her arm (was it meant to be a finger?) at Steve.

"I thought you were a flower!" Steve defended himself while backing off.

"Wow a Gloom!" Billy cried in amazement oblivious to Steve's fear.

"No Billy not this one!" Steve begged.

"Can we battle this Gloom?!" Billy asked eagerly as Steve groaned in dismay.

"Of course you can." Erika said sniggering obviously picking up on Steve's uneasiness.

"I look forward to putting you in your place young pup!" Gloom proclaimed smacking Steve on the back of the head.

"Hey!" Steve growled at the Gloom. "We're not even battling yet!"

"Who have you upset this time Gloomy?" A voice called out as a Tangela approached us.

"I haven't upset anyone! This wicked pup insulted me!" Gloom cried out in offense.

"Ah he mistook for a flower and said you smelt badly didn't he?" Tangela questioned in realisation. It was probably a common occurrence. "You know your flower smells bad why on earth do you still take offense when someone says so?"

"Nonsense!" Gloom scoffed. "A lady never smells bad and to suggest otherwise is just plain rude!"

"Whatever you say Gloomy." Tangela scoffed rolling her eyes. Tangela noticed the rest of us for the first time and looked slightly happier (it was hard to tell based only on her eyes). "A challenger?! Without a fire type?!" Tangela gasped in amazement.

"I could be a fire type one day." Steve pointed out.

"But you're not today!" Tangela cried with glee hopping from foot to foot. "I'm fed up of those burning brutes destroying all of Lady Erika's work just for victory."

"That must be… annoying." I said looking around at garden which had obviously had a lot of work put into it.

"That's an understatement." Tangela remarked with some frustration. "Though Erika tends to use the inevitable destruction as an excuse to re-decorate…"

"That Tangela looks pretty strong…" Aurora remarked looking at it.

"Seems like a worthy opponent!" Billy agreed grinning. "I'd like to battle against this one as well!" Erika nodded in agreement and Tangela jumped in happiness.

"It's been a while since I've battled!" She cried in excitement.

"You should look to him as an example Lady Pichu." Nicolas said nudging me as I sighed.

"How many more times do I have to tell you my name?" I asked in exasperation.

"You'd get along well with Ivysaur." Tangela mused. "Ah here's the lad now! Hey Ivysaur! We've got a challenger!"

"Is another fire breather or bug catcher?" Ivysaur asked obviously irritated.

"Neither!" Tangela called happily. "He doesn't even have any fire or bug types!"

"Seriously?" Ivysaur asked in surprise looking us over. "Your right!" Ivysaur proclaimed before sniggering. "I don't like fire or bug types but this guy must have a death wish! The only one who has any real advantage is the Nidorino. And I'm half poison type myself so it might not make much difference!"

"Plus using a water type…" Tangela mused before looking like she was cringing. "Yep your trainer has a death wish."

"I can ooze ick oves!" Laura pointed out while bouncing in place.

"We know." A fourth voice called out of nowhere and we all looked around until a Weepinbell jumped out of one of the nearby bushes. "We just don't think it will do much good."

"WB!" Tangela cried happily. "You're checking out the trainer as well?"

"For the last time Tangela don't shorten my name to WB." Weepinbell said glaring at the vine Pokémon who cringed in fear.

"An Ivysaur and a Weepinbell!" Billy cried with amazement before nodding to himself. "I'll battle against these two as well!" Billy proclaimed.

"Very well." Erika said nodding. "Then we shall begin." Gloom leapt in front of her at these words causing Billy to blink.

"Aren't we going to a battle field?" He asked.

"The whole building is the battle field Mr Derringer. I shall use it to demonstrate the destructive beauty of nature!" Billy grinned and nodded eagerly.

"Steve let's get going!" He cried as Steve leapt in front of him. "Start things off with quick attack!" Steve dashed forwards in a burst of white light heading straight for the flower Pokémon.

"Sweet scent!" Erika cried out as Gloom fired pollen into the air towards Steve making him stop in his tracks coughing and spluttering.

"Ye gods! Who on earth decided to name that move SWEET scent?" Steve asked coughing.

"Obviously someone with no sense of smell." I supplied pinching my nose, while Laura locked herself away in her shell and Nicolas turned away. Even some of the nearby flowers looked like they were wilting.

"Now use Acid!" Erika cried. Gloom fired purple sludge at Steve who yelped and narrowly dodged it by leaping to the side. Gloom continued firing as Steve dashed off further into the garden.

"Come on!" Billy cried giving chase to his wayward Eevee.

"Hey wait a second!" Bubbles cried as the group, Erika and her Gloom gave ran after him.

"Let us make haste!" Nicolas cried as I sighed and l lifted up Laura and ran after them.

"Gloom use Grass knot!" Erika cried suddenly and the grassland tripped Steve up sending him rolling into a patch of nettles.

"Ouch! Nettles! Who has nettles in a greenhouse?!" Steve cried out in pain scurrying away from the stinging plants.

"Steve use Dig!" Billy cried as Steve disappeared into the earth.

"Gloom use Acid in the hole!" Erika cried as her Gloom ran up to the hole. Gloom's flower began glowing a bright purple colour when suddenly it was slammed in the back by Steve bursting out of the earth.

"Now Bite!" Steve immediately bit Gloom's arm making her cry out in pain.

"Stun spore!" Before Steve could pull away a yellow power was thrown in his face making him sneeze. "Now tie his legs down with Grass Knot!"

"Steve jump onto that tree stump!" Billy cried looking at the one area not surrounded by grass. Steve attempted to leap but could move due to the paralysis as the grass tied him up.

"Hit him with Acid!"

"Free yourself with Bite!" Billy cried with fear. Gloom fired an Acid at Steve who desperately gnawed at the grass. It was too little too late though as the attack slammed into him making him cry with pain and breaking the grass knot as he slid backwards.

"Is… that… all you've got?" Steve gasped out somehow standing on his trembling legs.

"Cheeky pup! This should put you in your place!" Gloom cried out charging up another acid attack and firing it as Steve rolled out of the way as the attack melted the plants it had hit.

"Steve use Quick attack!" Billy cried

"Gloom use Grass Knot!" Steve dashed forwards as the grass knotted in front of him and he leapt over it before slamming into Gloom. "Sweet scent!" Gloom unleashed that horrible stench again making us all cough.

"Steve use Dig! Get away from the smell!"

"Gloom stop him with Acid!" Steve started digging at the ground before freezing due to paralysis again before another Acid slammed into him knocking him out.

"Steve!" Billy cried in despair looking at his knocked out Pokémon before returning him to his Poké ball. "Now it's your turn Laura!"

"E? Al-eddy?" Laura questioned in surprise as I placed her on the ground and she bounced into place.

"Let's paralysis her as well Gloom!" Erika ordered as Gloom fired another Stun spore.

"Into your shell!" Billy cried quickly as Laura's shell snapped shut and the spores bounced off without causing harm. "I knew it! It can't cause harm if they don't breathe it in!"

"Well what if I stop your Pokémon from attacking entirely?" Erika questioned with a smug smile. "Seal it with Grass Knot!" The grass wrapped around Laura's shell tying the shell together.

"Try to burst your shell open!" The shell trembled and vibrated on the grass but nothing else happened.

"Gloom use Acid!" Gloom fired a powerful Acid at Laura who was sent flying making Billy gape with horror. The shell somersaulted through the air spinning wildly and suddenly it burst open as Laura fire huge icicle spears down at Gloom, slamming into her before she had a chance to react, and causing the Gloom to collapse to one knee in pain. Laura landed on the ground looking somewhat dizzy but otherwise triumphant.

"Gloom! Are you alright?!" Erika cried in fear as the Gloom struggled to her feet before collapsing. "I guess you just didn't have enough strength left from the previous battle…" Erika remarked sadly returning her Pokémon.

"Ictory!" Laura cried happily, bouncing on the spot.

"Whoop yer! Go Laura!" Billy cried equally happy, as he also jumped from foot to foot.

"My congratulations Mr. Derringer," Erika said with a small smile as Billy turned red from embarrassment. "But don't count us out just yet. Go, my beautiful fly trap: Weepinbell!" Weepinbell dropped out of one of the nearby trees and the two Pokémon glared at each other. "Vine whip go!" the vines lashed out quickly slamming into Laura before she had a chance to react sending her up into the air again before crashing into a nearby tree.

"I asn't orn oo fly…" Laura muttered looking very dizzy.

"Laura!" Billy yelled.

"Now use Razor leaf!" Erika cried out as Weepinbell fired a series of leaves at Laura.

"Make a barrier with Icicle spear!" Laura managed to form a large icicle in front of her making the leaves slam against it but bounce off harmlessly.

"Weepinbell catapult yourself and use Slam!" Weepinbell wrapped its vines around some nearby trees and launched itself at the ice barrier slamming into it. This made the block start to fall towards Laura who was trapped between the tree and the ice.

"Return!" Billy cried calling Laura back into her Poké ball just as the ice crashed where she would have been.

"A wise decision under the circumstances." Erika acknowledged nodding. "Send out your next Pokémon and we'll finish what we started!"

"Right!" Weepinbell cried slamming her vines against the ground violently. Billy looked at both Nicolas and I before nodding.

"Liz let's get going!" He cried making me cringe.

"Why couldn't have you found a Sunkern or something simple for me to battle against..." I said with a sigh walking onto the field slowly while Nicolas nudged me impatiently.

"Ah the electric type. Neither of us can do much damage to the other. This should be interesting." Erika said with a small smile.

**Billy's POV**

"Start things off with poison powder!" Weepinbell fired a bright purple spore cloud into the air.

"Quick into the trees!" I yelled as Liz quickly climbed up and out of range.

"An unwise move Mr. Derringer! Weepinbell is a specialist for moving about the trees!" Erika taunted making me grit my teeth. "Vine whip!" Weepinbell launched a vine onto the tree branch and swung towards Liz.

"Wow!"Luke cried taking a picture in the background as Weepinbell swung around a brand doing a loop before letting go and flying towards Liz.

"ThunderPunch!" I cried quickly as electricity surrounded Liz's fist and she slammed it into Weepinbell's forehead taking the Pokémon by surprise before it fell to the ground.

"Vine whip again! Take down the branches!"

"Jump Liz!" Weepinbell quickly reached up as Liz leapt, remarkably using Weepinbell's own vines as a boost before jumping onto another tree. Weepinbell broke a nearby branch and picked it up with her vine. She used the branch to swat at Liz who managed to narrowly ducked before Weepinbell hit her with its other vine sending Liz crashing to the ground as well. "Sweet Kiss!" I cried as Liz stood up and sent several hearts into Weepinbell's face making it weave drunkenly in confusion.

"Think that will stop us? Weepinbell use Razor leaf everywhere!" Erika ordered as Weepinbell fired leaves in every possible direction. It didn't matter about its confusion as it wasn't trying to pinpoint anything just doing a wide random attack. In fact it was firing so many leaves it was hard to see the Pokémon!

"Hide behind the trees!" I yelled as Liz ran while getting hit by a few of the leaves before getting to safety and sighing with exhaustion.

"Hey! Where's Weepinbell gone?!" Bubbles cried suddenly making me look around in confusion. The other Pokémon had just disappeared!

"I told you it wasn't a wise idea to take of Weepinbell in the forest! See if you can even find it before we find you!" Erika yelled smugly, her bright green eyes locking with my own and I quickly shook my head. "And don't worry about the confusion we'll wait for it to wear off before making our move!"

"Keep your back against the tree and listen out for it!" I yelled as Liz pressed against it.

"You'll need a better plan then that Billy!" Paula cried out.

"Don't you think I know that?!" I snapped at her making her pout. For a minute everything was silent and I could swear I could hear crickets chirping.

"Poison powder!" Suddenly the familiar purple could was fired directly into Liz's face from above as she coughed and spluttered and Weepinbell appeared from the branches smugly.

"Thundershock!" I yelled as Liz quickly fired a powerful Thundershock against it before it could hide again making Weepinbell fall back onto the ground. "ThunderPunch!" Liz ran over (a lot slower then normally due to the poison effects) and slammed her fist into Weepinbell's face making it wince with pain before Liz collapsed to one knee as the poison affected her.

"Quickly use Vine whip to get away!" Erika cried.

"Oh no you don't! Liz use Thunder wave!" Weepinbell's vines shot out and wrapped around one of the trees just as Liz began to crackle with static electricity before shocking the plant Pokémon making Weepinbell freeze with paralysis. "Now ThunderPunch again!" Liz's fist surround with electricity as she lifted it before collapsing into a faint before the stunned (literally) plant Pokémon.

"Liz!" I cried in panic running over and lifting her up as she slept. "Guess the poison's effects were too much…"

"Well that Weepinbell won't last much longer… its exhausted and paralyzed…" Aurora mused.

"But Billy's only got two Pokémon left and Laura's already tired…" Bubbles mused.

"Nicolas it's your turn now!" I cried deciding to let Laura rest for a little longer as my Nidorino stared at the plant Pokémon.

"Weepinbell into the trees! Keep your distance!" Erika yelled as Weepinbell reached out another vine, quickly zipping into the trees.

"Ram the tree with Horn attack!" Nicolas charged into the tree making it sway violently as several leaves fell out of it as Weepinbell clung onto a branch. "Again!"

"Weepinbell use Razor leaf!" Weepinbell prepared to fired its attack but froze as static appeared on the outside of its body. The paralysis was affecting it! Nicolas rammed into the tree once again and Weepinbell fell to the ground once more before Nicolas slammed into it knocking it out.

"Very good Mr. Derringer you are a worthy opponent." Erika complimented me as I turned bright red and Nicolas scraped at the ground snorting. "It's your turn now my climbing vine! Tangela!" The mass of vines (and two eyes) jumped in front of Erika looking determined. "Vine whip!"

"Fury attack!" I quickly snapped back into the battle. Tangela quickly shot its vines at Nicolas, a lot more vines then Weepinbell had. Nicolas quickly started swatting the vines away with his horn while edging backwards. "Use Poison sting!" I cried realising Tangela would quickly gain the advantage if this continued.

"Knock them away with Knock off!" Tangela easily knocked the poisonous barbs away without batting an eye. "Attract!" Tangela winked and hearts flew towards a stunned Nicolas before they hit him and he got a dopey look in his eyes, swaying from side to side.

"That's totally Billy to Erika..." Bubbles muttered in the background making me blush again.

"Shut up!" I yelled. "Nicolas use poison sting!" Nicolas just pawned at the ground again but instead of looking determined he looked shy making me sigh. "Return!" I cried quickly withdrawing Nicolas. "Laura it's your turn again!" I cried releasing Laura.

"I can't believe Billy's actually switching Pokémon…" Paula remarked.

"Is that unusual?" Aurora questioned, having not seen Billy battle before.

"Normally he sticks with a Pokémon until it faints." Luke agreed "He might actually be advancing as a trainer!"

"Vine whip!" Erika cried, looking extremely beautiful, as Tangela quickly wrapped up Laura in vines before I could react.

"But then again maybe not…" Luke remarked with a sigh.

**Luke's POV**

"Ah! Laura return!" Billy cried trying to return Laura again but the beam was blocked by Tangela's vines.

"The same trick shall not work thrice!" Erika cried out. "Now Tangela use Mega drain!" Tangela began to glow green and balls of green light started to run down from the trapped Laura to Tangela itself.

"Laura! Icicle spear! Water Pulse! Do something!" Billy cried desperately. Suddenly the inside of the vines began to glow and they fell to the ground as Tangela cried out in pain as we stared in surprise at a spinning Laura, who had managed to learn Razor shell. I quickly snapped at picture before an extremely tired looking Laura fell onto the ground.

"Impressive." Erika remarked as Billy beamed, whether it was at his Pokémon or the compliment I was unsure. "But a WATER type move will not do much to help your tired Pokémon at this stage."

"We'll just use an ice one then! Icicle spear!"

"Knock off!" Laura managed to fire several large icicles at Tangela who easily managed to bat them away with its vines. "Now Vine whip!" Tangela's vines started speeding towards Laura once again.

"Use Clamp!" Billy cried as Laura clamped down on Tangela's vines making her cry with pain. "You're not the one who's learnt from old tricks!"

"Pull her in Tangela!" Erika cried not daunted in the slightest as Tangela regained control of the situation by reeling Laura in.

"Cut the vine with Razor shell!" Laura began to glow and slammed her shell down onto the vine easily cutting it as Laura rolled onto the floor.

"Don't give it the chance to recover! Use Mega drain!" Erika cried out as Tangela began to glow green.

"Water Pulse!" Laura quickly fired a powerful Water Pulse attack at the Tangela sending it flying through some nearby hedges.

"Tangela!" Erika cried out in fear as everyone examined the new gap in concern. Suddenly, vines came flying though the hole grabbing Laura and pulling her through the hedges.

"Laura!" Billy cried practically diving after her, while Erika being a practical person ran around the hedges knowing her way around like an expert. It was no wonder the rest of us decided to follow Erika. "Laura?" We heard Billy question in concern having finally reached him. It was obvious from the final gap in the hedge that the two missing Pokémon had ended up here somewhere but there was no sign of them. Suddenly a water Pulse attack came flying close to our heads and we had to quickly duck and the next thing we knew Laura was sent flying into the nearby Lily pad pond.

"Stay down!" I heard Tangela gasping from nearby as she came into view.

"Laura!" Billy cried again, looking ready to swim after his Pokémon just as Laura swam to the top looking just as tired but still ready to fight. "Alright! Laura use Razor shell!"

"Tangela knock her away with Knock off!" Laura managed to swim a lot faster then she could bounce easily dodging Tangela's vines as they lashed against the water trying to hit her. Laura launched out of the water, glowing and spinning as she managed to hit Tangela dead on before Tangela knocked her away into a tree making both Pokémon faint.

"Interesting. We both have one Pokémon left. And the battlefield doesn't seem to be a major advantage to either of us." Erika remarked looking around at the Lily pond and the muddy ground that would cause both Ivysaur and Nicolas problems. "Let's show Mr. Derringer how well we can harness the power of nature! Go my blooming flower Ivysaur!"

"Nicolas let's get going!" the two Pokémon glared at each other both eager to fight.

"Razor leaf!"

"Poison sting!" Ivysaur fired a ton of leaves straight at Nicolas who shot them down with his poison sting attack. "Now use Horn attack!"

"Met it head on with Take down!" the Pokémon charged, somewhat slowed by the mud as the two butted heads trying to push each other backwards. "Vine whip now!" Ivysaur quickly picked up Nicolas before he could react and threw him into the pond. Nicolas coughed and spluttered and quickly ran out of the pond. Luckily he hadn't landed too deep inside the water. "Now use Leech seed!"

"Destroy it with Fury attack!" Ivysaur fired several seeds at Nicolas who jumped away destroying the few seeds that reached him with fury attack. "Poison Sting again!"

"Ignore it and go in for another Take down!" Nicolas fired the poison needles at Ivysaur but because it was a poison type they didn't seem to affect the Pokémon. Ivysaur slammed into Nicolas making him slide backwards in the mud.

"Double kick!" Billy cried as Nicolas recovered quickly, kicking Ivysaur in the face.

"Leech seed!" Ivysaur fired another small seed at Nicolas which attached onto the surprised Pokémon before he could react wrapping small vines around him and Nicolas turned wide eyed at the small flower that grew on top on his horn making us snigger. I quickly snapped a picture before Nicolas managed the snap the flower off.

"Horn attack!"

"Stop it with Vine whip!" Nicolas charged forwards as Ivysaur grabbed it with its vines. Nicolas winced as the Leech seed grew slightly on his body and Ivysaur seemed to grow stronger.

"Cut the vines with Horn attack!" Nicolas quickly cut the vines and fell towards Ivysaur ramming it on the top of the head with horn attack. "Use Fury attack before it recovers!" Nicolas started quickly jabbing its horn into Ivysaur making it wince with pain. Eventually, Nicolas had to stop as the leech seed once again started to drain his energy and both Pokémon collapsed to one knee.

"Razor leaf!" Erika cried as the leaves started slamming into Nicolas, who being too close couldn't move away to dodge.

"Destroy them with fury attack!" Nicolas managed to summon up his energy and destroyed the rest of the leaves before they could reach him. The leach seed began to grow and Nicolas gritted his teeth obviously having very little energy remaining.

"The power of plants is really quite amazing don't you think? They can grow in almost any environment but for some reason everyone underestimates them! It's time to end this! Ivysaur use Razor leaf! Finish off the Nidorino!" Erika ordered as Ivysaur began to fire.

"Nicolas! Charge forwards with Horn attack!" Nicolas stood up on shaky legs and began to run forwards ignoring the leaves slamming into him as he ran up to the Ivysaur and slammed him into the air from underneath Ivysaur's stomach sending the plant Pokémon flying. Nicolas breathed deeply barely standing as he watched the Ivysaur stand up shakily. The two Pokémon stared at each other neither moving save for breathing and then… Ivysaur collapsed! The five of us (well nine if the Pokémon were counted) burst into cheers as Billy ran up to his triumphant Pokémon. "You were freakin' awesome!" Billy complimented grinning as Nicolas managed to look smug for all of two seconds before he collapsed. "Ah! Nicolas!" Billy cried with worry examining his sleeping Pokémon.

"Don't worry Billy he only needs rest." Shadow said as I translated as Billy nodded looking extremely relieved before returning Nicolas.

"Fairs fair Billy Derringer I present to you your prize." Erika said holing out a badge that looked like a rainbow flower; each petal was a different colour.

"I won the rainbow badge!" Billy shouted holding the badge up into the air before turning bright red, realising he had just shouted that in front of Erika who merely chuckled.

"The next closest gyms to here would be either the Saffron Gym or the Fuchsia gym… though you'll need a bike to reach the latter." Erika explained helpfully.

"I've already tried my luck at the Saffron gym… it didn't exactly go well…" Billy admitted sheepishly. "I'm planning to try again after I've won the Fuchsia badge… but how are we supposed to get there without a bike?"

"There is a bike shop in Celadon." Erika supplied. "It would be a bit silly to have a city right next to the cycling route without a single bike shop at hand. Though the bikes are quite expensive…"

"Ahem. Billy I think you're forgetting something." I pointed out smugly before fishing through my bag. "Aha! Here it is! The bike voucher!"

"Where did you get that?" Bubbles asked gaping at the rare item.

"Don't you guys remember? I won it from the tournament on the SS Anne II." I pointed out as realisation dawned on their faces.

"That certainly will be helpful but you can only get one bike between all five of you…" Erika pointed out as I, Aurora and Bubbles shared grins.

"We'll figure something out." I said casually.

"Well just be careful I've heard reports that a rogue Kadabra has been attack people around that area…" Erika said with some concern.

"A rogue Kadabra?!" Billy practically screamed making Erika wince ruining all chances Billy ever had with her (if he ever had a chance in the first place). "What sort of Kadabra?!"

"Well from what I've heard it looks the same as any other Kadabra… it's apparently female but that's all I know…" Erika said quickly as all of us shared looks.

"Kyra…" Billy whispered with a determined look in his eyes.

_***Plays dramatic music* well maybe it's not that dramatic but still Kyra's coming back! **_

_**And the 4**__**th**__** badge is won! Does this mean we're half way through the story already?! …. Maybe… it only took a year and a half… hopefully it won't take another 47 chapters to finish this though…**_

_**Thanks for the chapter titles I decided to go for the original one after all *shrugs* I wanted a chapter something relating to flower or grass or nature if you pay attention all the gym chapters have relevance to the gym type who knows what the poison gym chapter title will be though (even I don't know at the moment… probably something to with ninjas and poison…)**_

_**Erika's first few lines were taken directly from the games so if they seem familiar that's probably it. I know leech seed doesn't grow flowers but I had a weird metal image of Nicolas with a flower on his head at that moment making me burst out laughing and quickly type it out.**_

_**And how did you know about my spying?! Um… I mean… I'm not a spy… honest… *Cough* GLORY TO RANSEIII!*cough* no just kidding I don't know where Ransei is (or what it is if it isn't real)… Who knows if I'm kidding about being a spy though :D**_

_**And yes let's just say the real contest announcer is on permanent vacation for the rest of the story… or at least until the next contest if I remember about her…**_

_**So what's coming up in the next (hopefully not 47) chapters of shocks and static? Well… we've got the cycling road coming up next, another tournament, 5**__**th**__** badge battle, another contest, Safari zone to name a few things. With some shocks and static craziness thrown in the middle obviously :D**_

_**And about a chapter for Liz's and Luke's relationship the simple answer is… I'm not sure yet. I'm sort of thinking of chapter called spring madness which will be quite embarrassing (hehehe) for those two characters but I don't know if I'll actually write it yet. Plus, I've been sort of thinking that Liz should evolve and the requirements for Pichu's evolution which is another idea I've been musing on… but nothing concrete is planned yet.**_

_**THIS NEXT BIT IS QUITE LONG SO DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT THE POKÉMON'S MOVE POOLS**_

_**I noticed someone questioning about Liz's move pool. Just to clear this up in this story the Pokémon don't really have move pools per say. Because if they did I'd have to remember every single Pokémon and their move pools and constantly update these moves whenever I feel the Pokémon has levelled up (TOO MUCH WORK!). So instead of that I'm using my author powers and saying that a Pokémon can KNOW more than 4 moves at a time but will only USE 4 moves in a battle. If you pay close attention each Pokémon will only use 4 moves per battle though these moves might change in different battles. So Liz will ALWAYS know and use Thundershock and ThunderPunch these are in her 'constant' move pool. The other two moves I tend to pick and choose according to the situation. When Liz eventually learns Thunderbolt she will still know Thundershock but will never use it… I hope that makes sense because to me it's a bit stupid how some Pokémon go through so much training to learn one move and instantly forget it when a new move comes along. As far as I'm concerned the Pokémon still know these moves just choose not to use them… maybe after a couple of months they might forget but not instantly. When the characters react with a 'OMG whichever Pokémon knows THAT move NOW?' you can bet that Pokémon will use that move often- if they don't react assume it's not in the permanent move pool if you don't recognise the Pokémon using the move in the past. I do have basic move pools for the characters (which are stored in my mind so may be forgotten or changed) below if you really care. **_

_**Pnc stands for Pick and choose**_

_**Billy's Pokémon**_

_**Liz (Pichu)-**_

_**Thundershock**_

_**ThunderPunch**_

_**Pnc**_

_**Pnc**_

_**Nicolas (Nidorino)-**_

_**Horn Attack**_

_**Fury attack**_

_**Poison sting**_

_**Double kick**_

_**Kyra (Kadabra)-**_

_**Psybeam**_

_**Confusion**_

_**Psycho cut**_

_**Pnc**_

_**Steve (Eevee) (yes I know he has 5 moves but those are the moves I imagine him using)-**_

_**Quick attack**_

_**Bite**_

_**Tackle**_

_**Take down (sometimes- most likely to replace tackle in battle)**_

_**Dig**_

_**Daniel (Cubone)-**_

_**Bone club**_

_**Bonemerang **_

_**Pnc**_

_**Pnc**_

_**Laura (Shellder)-**_

_**Icicle spear**_

_**Water pulse**_

_**Razor shell**_

_**Clamp **_

_**Paula's Pokémon**_

_**Alice (Wartortle)-**_

_**Aqua Tail**_

_**Aqua Jet**_

_**Pnc**_

_**Pnc**_

_**Felicity (Growlithe)-**_

_**Fire spin**_

_**Bite**_

_**Roar (sometimes)**_

_**Pnc**_

_**Robert (Hoppip)-**_

_**Razor leaf**_

_**Tackle**_

_**Pnc**_

_**Pnc**_

_**Luke's Pokémon **_

_**Luke (Eevee)-**_

_**Metal claw**_

_**Quick attack**_

_**Shadow ball**_

_**Agility**_

_**Shadow (Umbreon)-**_

_**Shadow ball**_

_**Moonlight (sometimes)**_

_**Faint attack**_

_**Pnc**_

_**Harry (Hoothoot)-**_

_**Hypnosis**_

_**Peck**_

_**Pnc**_

_**Pnc**_

_**Blaze (Charmander)-**_

_**Flamethrower**_

_**Dragon Pulse (when very angry- tail fire turns blue)**_

_**Scratch **_

_**Pnc**_

_**Bubbles' Pokémon**__**-though Bubbles hasn't technically caught herself or Sparky and Sparkette…**_

_**Bubbles (Buneary)-**_

_**Bounce**_

_**Dizzy punch**_

_**Jump kick**_

_**Pnc**_

_**Sparky (Pichu)-**_

_**Charge beam**_

_**Tackle **_

_**Thunder**_

_**Sweet kiss**_

_**Sparkette (Pichu)-**_

_**Charge beam**_

_**Quick attack**_

_**Thunder**_

_**Sweet kiss**_

_**Aurora's Pokémon**__-__**Aurora hasn't caught herself or her brother yet either… (Don't look now I think the author's thinking of potential future plot points- without even trying! Hmm…) **_

_**Aurora (Zorua (can use illusion to pretend to be Oshawott))-**_

_**Cut **_

_**Dig**_

_**Double team**_

_**Retaliate**_

_**Adolfo (Zorua)-**_

_**Shadow ball **_

_**Faint attack**_

_**Pnc**_

_**Pnc**_

_**I'm not going into detail for the other characters so you'll have to make do with this. That marks the END OF THE MOVE POOL DISCUSSION (if anyone's still reading at this point).**_

_**Hey if there are 47 more chapters and each chapter takes 3 months to type that means in… (gets out calculator)… over 7 years from now the story will be finished! (Hears crickets chirping as tumbleweed flies past) oh well I'll just keep chugging along at my own pace… **_


	48. Speeding into disaster

A/n- sorry again for the delay I've been in hospitable for a while because it turns out that me (with my slight fear of loud, big, energetic animals such as say dogs) + my friend's normally ok dog + one of the mice who have decided to invade my house + a very hot frying pan is not a great combination. Who knew?

Speeding into disaster

**Bubbles' POV**

Myself, Luke, Liz and Aurora were all in our Pokémon forms (well Aurora's true form) standing out the bike shop waiting for Billy and Paula to come out.

"I hope they get a cool red bike that we can whizz around on all day!" Adolfo cried, practically bouncing in place.

"I just hope they get a bike that we can use for the rest of the journey. It will be a lot better riding on a bike then having to walk everywhere." Luke said smiling.

"Ah here's Paula!" I cried with excitement making all of us look at her as she came out the shop.

"Brace yourselves." Paula said seriously making all of us look at her, she seemed somewhat pale for some reason.

"I present to you our new bike!" Billy cried victoriously coming out of the shop as we gaped at it.

"This can only end badly." Liz said glumly, looking at the multicoloured bike with two sets of peddles and a large basket on the handle bar. The ends of the handles had pink tassels like the kind you got on a five year olds bike and the seats had glitter on them. The bike wheels were also covered in glitter and were multicoloured. It even had a bell with a picture of Barbie on it.

"Remind me if I ever win a bike voucher again not to give it to Billy." Luke confirmed looking at 'his' bike with horror.

"We have to ride THAT for the rest of the journey?!" Adolfo asked gaping.

"Hey it was the only bike with two sets of peddles and a basket that they had!" Billy defended himself, recognising the looks on our faces if not our words.

"I kind of like it! A unique bike just for our group!" Sparkette perked up, looking excited.

"Yer we can call it 'The Multicoloured Splodge'." Sparky said, not sounding as eager as his fellow Pichu.

"Maybe if Billy and Paula ride really fast no one will get a decent look at it…" Shadow mused, cringing at the bike.

"Well get in why don't you! We have to see in this Kadabra on the cycling road is Kyra!" Billy cried beckoning to the bike as all of us shared looks of dread.

"After you, dearest sister…" Adolfo said shoving Aurora forwards.

"Of course you only become a gentleman when it's convenient to you Adolfo!" Aurora growled at him.

"I think you've spent too much time around the humans! I am not a man!" Adolfo pointed out sniggering as Aurora scoffed at him before whacking him on the back on his head with her tail. I jumped into the basket, with Sparky and Sparkette close behind. Everyone looked at me in surprise making me sigh.

"We may as well get it over with." I said to my friends, who glanced at each other before Luke, Aurora and Adolfo joined us in the basket.

"Hey quit shoving me!" Sparkette complained.

"There isn't exactly much space you know!" Luke retaliated.

"I'm just glad I'm allowed to run alongside the bike." Shadow mused looking at us as we squirmed and shoved at each other trying to get comfortable. When we were sorted out everyone turned to Liz who cringed.

"I think I'll just walk with Shadow here…" Liz mused before Billy picked her up with a sigh and placed her in his hood. "Billy put me down! I don't want to ride this death trap!" Billy and Paula quickly started riding, ignoring Liz's complaints and soon she was too busy clinging on for dear life to complain at all.

"See this isn't too bad is it?" Billy asked cheerfully as Paula cringed behind him as a trainer laughed when they saw us.

"Just keep cycling Billy…" Paula begged, as we started to pick up speed.

"There it is the gate way to the cycling route!" Billy said, after about 10 humiliating minutes. All of us looked up and gasped at the impressive metal archway.

"Is it just me or are you getting an ominous feeling?" Adolfo asked nervously.

"Well we can only go downhill from here. Literally." Liz pointed out as we all looked at the steep slope downwards. I swallowed in fear as Billy steered us through the archway.

"I suppose it's too late to ask if this basket comes with seatbelts?" I asked fearfully as we shared worried looks.

"Ah don't be so worried you guys!" Billy said recognising the looks on our faces. We started speeding down the slope and Shadow had to jog quickly to keep up with us. "I've had loads of experience riding bikes! I can even ride without hands!" He cried lifting his hands up in demonstration making all of gape.

"Billy! The break!" Liz cried out in fear.

"Look out!" Paula screamed.

SMASH!

"AHHH!" Everyone went flying off the bike as 'The Multicoloured Splodge' crashed into a barrier and the world faded to black.

**Times passes… Same POV**

"Bubbles! Bubbles!" I heard two familiar voices cry in fear as I slowly opened my eyes seeing Sparky and Sparkette staring at me. "You're okay!" They cried in unison hugging me.

"Ug… where are we?" I asked them making Sparkette's eyes widen.

"Sparky! She's suffering from amnesia! What do we do?" Sparkette cried with concern.

"I am not suffering from amnesia!" I snapped. "I remember the bike crashing! I just don't know where we are!"

"Don't worry Bubbles! We'll get you to a hospital!" Sparkette cried, ignoring me.

"Sparkette! Snap out of it!" Sparky cried give Sparkette a small zap. "She's fine!" He cried before looking at me with concern in his eyes. "Aren't you?"

"A bit bruised but otherwise fine." I confirmed with a nod as both Pichus hugged me again with a relieved sigh. "Where's everyone else?" I asked "Where are we for that matter?"

"We think we're still on the cycling route… well more likely we fell off the cycling bridge and winded up here…" Sparky mused looking up at the concrete bridge that was casting the forest we were in into shadow. "Luke and Liz aren't too far away but we don't know where anyone else is…" Sparky explained. "And there's the remains of 'The Multicoloured Splodge'…" He said pointing to an extremely bent glittery wheel.

"Well it's a probably a good thing Luke wasn't too attached to it…" I said, looking at the obviously irreparable bike wheel.

"I don't think he's too concerned about the bike right now regardless… Liz was knocked out as well…" Sparkette explained as I gasped in concern.

"What are we standing around here for? We have to check if she's okay!" I cried quickly, running off locating Luke looking a sleeping Liz.

"Liz! Are you okay? Speak to me!" Luke cried in fear as Liz slowly opened her eyes. "Quick how many fingers am I holding up?!"

"Luke? You don't have any fingers…" Liz pointed out looking at Luke's paw.

"Oh..." Luke sheepishly put his leg back on the ground as Liz sat up.

"She's fine." Sparky said smiling with relief and we quickly brought a confused Liz up to speed.

"So we managed to fall of the cycling road but we're all fine?" Liz questioned sceptically.

"Seems that way." I confirmed with a nod and a smile.

"The bridge is actually not that far off the ground and I'm guessing the trees and moss broke our falls." Luke mused.

"Right. I forgot how soft TREES are." Liz said, frowning at the broken overhead tree branches.

"Well there not point worrying about it we're all fine after all!" Sparkette said with a big smile.

"I suppose…" Liz confirmed, with a shrug.

"Do you think you can see anyone else?" I asked my Pokémon who shrugged.

"We haven't really looked with all the excitement but there's no harm in checking…" Sparky mused as he and Sparkette ran up a nearby tree. We waited for a few minutes both they eventually came down looking worried.

"We can't see anyone down here but it looks like half the bike is up on the bridge, we can just about see it." Sparky said.

"So it's possible that the other half of our group is up on the bridge?" Luke asked.

"Well Shadow defiantly would be he wasn't on the bike… though Aurora and Adolfo were in the basket with you guys so I would have thought they'd be down here. I can't guess what happened to Billy and Paula though…" Liz assumed as we looked around for our friends.

"I know!" I cried in realisation. "Sparky! Sparkette! Use double charge beam and make a large firework! If anyone's nearby they should see it and come looking!"

"Brilliant!" The two Pichus cried, before firing two separate charge beams into the air colliding to make a big electric firework scattering all nearby bird Pokémon. "Now what?" They asked in unison.

"We wait." I said. "And hope."

**Billy's POV**

I groggily woke up feeling a rough tongue licking my cheek. My eyes managed to make out the bleary sight of Shadow before he ran towards what I recognised was Paula and he woke her up in the same manner. I wondered what happened before everything came back in a rush... the bike… the crash… where was everybody?!

"Shadow? What? Where's Luke? And everyone else?" Paula asked sleepily, not understanding what was going on. Shadow pointed his paw over the bridge making us gasp in horror.

"They fell off the bridge?!" I asked in horror as Shadow gave a sad whimper confirming our fears. The two of us paled as we looked down at the forest below.

"Well maybe they'll be okay… it doesn't look like it's a very long fall and the trees and stuff should slow them down…" Paula said hopefully.

"Really?!" I snapped. "Have you forgotten how soft TREES are, Paula?!"

"Of course not!" Paula cried with a sad sniff. "But it's better than thinking of the alternative! This wouldn't have happened if you weren't messing around!" I gaped a few times, frowning fiercely before sitting down on the pavement, physically and mentally exhausted.

"Your right…" I whispered feeling like my stomach was clenching. "Oh you stupid idiot Billy!" I cried punching my leg. "I wanted to race ahead as normal and now... our friends…." A tear rolled down my cheek and I felt like I was about to be sick as I scanned the trees below. "Paula do you think you can send out Robert and find them?" I asked hopefully.

"You know he doesn't like flying…" Paula said, biting her lip.

"I know but we have to try he's our only hope." I said as Paula nodded.

"Robert let's get going!" She cried throwing the Poké ball onto the ground. We blinked in unison as it didn't open. "Robert?" Paula asked as she picked up the Poké ball, pressing the centre button a few times. "It won't open… it must have broken in the crash… but it looks fine… try one of yours." I picked up one of my Poké balls and pressed the centre button.

"I've got nothing." I confirmed, checking the others just to be certain. "All four aren't activating… even the empty ones aren't doing anything."

"Mine are the same… not just Robert's." Paula said. We shared a worried look as Shadow yipped at us. "I think he's saying that we can borrow him if we get into trouble…" Paula guessed as Shadow nodded.

"I'm sorry Shadow but unless you can grow wings you can't help us right now." I said sadly as Shadow whimpered. "I know you're worried too, right?" I scratched his ears trying to comfort him and myself.

"Hey look at that!" Paula cried in amazement. I turned my head just in time to see a large electric firework appear above the tree line.

"Was that…?" I began, not daring to hope.

"A signal! It was defiantly caused by an electric type move so that means it has to have been Sparky, Sparkette or Liz! Our friends might still be alive and well!" Paula said happily as I sighed with relief.

"Thank goodness…"

"Let's send one back!" Paula cried as Shadow yipped and sent three Shadow Balls into the air before destroying them with Faint attack making black smoke in the sky. "Hey look there's another one!" Paula cried as another signal looking identical to our own appeared on the other side of the bridge.

"They're not all together?!" I asked in surprise.

"It doesn't seem like it... one or both of the Zorua siblings must be over there that signal was caused by dark type moves after all…" Paula mused.

"So how are we supposed to meet up? Both groups are down there and we're up here." I asked. "I know! We'll just jump off the bridge! If they survived we'll be able to as well! Let's go!" I cried before Paula quickly grabbed my shirt stopping me from going anywhere.

"Oh no you don't mister! It was that kind of idiocy that got us into this mess in the first place!" She scolded. "No we're going to head to one of the gates! Surely they're on the ground! Then we to get to the forest that way! Instead of breaking our necks through stupidity!"

"Fine! Spoilsport!" I said though inwardly I could see her point. "We'll head back up this hill then… that's probably the closest gate. Let's go!" I cried starting to march up hill before slipping and sliding back down. "Whoa! What the-"

"There's a reason this is the cycling road it's considered too steep and dangerous to walk on- not that it was much safer on a bike- it's too difficult to head upwards we'll have to head down instead but clinging onto the side just to be safe." Paula explained.

"Next time tell me that before I make a fool of myself." I said, standing up and brushing the dirt off me.

"But you do it so well!" Paula joked as I gave her a light shove making her shriek and fall downwards slightly. "Hey!"

"See how you like it!" I taunted before Shadow gave my leg a nip. "Ow! Hey!"

"Thank you, Shadow." Paula said as he helped her stand up.

"You're not meant to be on her side!" I shouted at the Pokémon who ignored me.

"He obviously has good taste." Paula said smugly. Shadow rolled his eyes and pointed down the road.

"He just wants to get moving!" I said through laughter as Paula pouted.

"He's right though." Paula pointed out as I nodded.

"Let's go then."

**Aurora's POV**

"It seems like everyone else is fine judging by the signals." I said with a relieved smile as Adolfo continued to scan the trees. "What is it?"

"I'm just waiting for the part where Billy jumps off the bridge in an attempt to find us." He explained calmly making me burst out with laughter.

"I doubt even Billy is that stupid! Come on it seems like Bubbles, Sparky, Sparkette, Luke and Liz are down on the ground with us, we'll find them and then figure out a way to get up on the bridge."

"Sounds like a plan." Adolfo agreed. "As long as we don't bump into the killer Kadabra that's been terrorising the area we should be fine."

"I forgot all about that!" I cried in shock. "Well we're both dark types so we should be fine…"

"Lovin' the confidence 'Rora," Adolfo said as I smacked him on the head.

"Come on the signal seemed to come from over there…" I said as we began heading forwards suddenly we heard a loud crack noise from beneath us and the next thing we knew we were in a net.

"It's a trap!" Adolfo cried in surprise.

"Come on maybe we can bite our way through!" I said as I began gnawing on the net.

"Erm… Aurora… we have another problem…" Adolfo said nervously making me look up. The trees began to light up with fierce red eyes as I swallowed in fear.

"Adolfo… is that…"

"The sign of possession. By _Them._" Adolfo growled and dread filled my stomach. We both knew who they were far too well. The black fog was back.

**Liz's POV**

"I'm boooorrrrrrreeeeeeeddddddddd!" Sparkette complained for the tenth time in one minute making us all sigh.

"You know saying that you're bored won't make you any less bored." I pointed out.

"It makes me feel better! Bored bored boredy bored bored!" Sparkette complained.

"Well what do want to do to make yourself less bored?" Bubbles asked in frustration as Sparkette considered it before smiling.

"We can play 'who's that Pokémon?'" Sparkette suggested.

"Please no!" Sparky and Bubbles cried with horror.

"Come on it will be fun! I can spot a Pokémon beginning with P that is larger than I am but is about the same size but slightly smaller than Bubbles as a human. Any guesses?" Silence reigned throughout the forest as no one wanted to play. "Come on you guys! I'll even give you another clue- it's a fire type!*****"

"How about instead of playing 'who's that Pokémon?' you just shout out the name of any Pokémon you can see as we go along?" Luke suggested, oblivious to Bubbles and Sparky discreetly shaking their heads.

"Okay sure!" Sparkette happily agreed. "There's a Pidgey, its evolution Pidgeotto, a Caterpie, a Metapod…"

**15 minutes later… **

"An Eevee, a Growlithe, a Sunkern…"

"You know a part of me wishes I died in that bike accident." I whispered to Luke who sighed.

"Maybe we did and this is hell." Luke replied.

"No this is just everyday Sparkette." Sparky said with a sigh.

"You guys aren't listening to me!" Sparkette complained.

"Of course we are Sparkette." Bubbles said, through a yawn.

"I'll carry on then!" Sparkette said, oblivious to everyone's sigh. "There's a Dunsparce, a Rattata, a Spearow..."

"Right…."

"Some Mankeys, there goes some Nidorans as well… a Weedle… oh look a Pikachu!"

"Yer..."

"And there's a Wooper, some Hoppips, there goes some Magnamites and… eww… there's a Grimer!"

"Hmm…"

"Ekans, Jigglypuff, a Kofffing and… hey look a Kadabra!" Sparkette cried happily.

"Mmm… wait... what?" I asked in surprise.

"I knew you weren't listening!" Sparkette cried in annoyance just as a powerful Psycho cut attack flew over our heads, slamming into the trees making them fall with a loud crash.

"Well, well… what have we here… five lonely and shiny Pokémon lost in the woods." A deep male voice said as we were surrounded by blue psychic energy freezing us into place. A scarred, muscular man appeared out of the tree line. At his side was a very familiar looking Kadabra.

"K-Kyra?" I questioned nervously as the Pokémon looked up with glowing red eyes making me swallow in fear. It was obvious there was no hint of recognition there.

"Keep them in place Kadabra." The man ordered as he lifted up a thick suitcase I hadn't noticed before. He quickly opened it as familiar black fog poured out making us cough and splutter. Soon it passed as Sparky and Sparkette turned to us with their eyes red.

"Guys?..." Bubbles asked nervously before the two of them shook their heads and their eyes went back to normal.

"Man I hate that fog stuff." Sparky complained.

"What? All five of them are immune... I didn't even see three of them get possessed..." The man muttered to himself. "Come Kadabra! We shall take them back to base! We can let the boss decide whether sell them on or experiment on them!" Kyra pointed her spoon at us and the next thing we knew we were hovering along until the man eventually pressed a hidden button on a tree revealing a hidden underground staircase. The man quickly opened a cage which Kyra levitated us into just as a group of flying types flew in with two very familiar Zoruas in a net.

"Let us out you bastard!" Adolfo complained, desperately squirming inside.

"Hmm… a Zorua? Two Zoruas?!" The man questioned before grinning ferly. "I wonder…" The man quickly scanned the two using some kind of machine.

"Subject detected Zorua A and Zorua B. Recently escaped from agent Question Mark." The machine said as the two grew pale and the man began to laugh.

"This is just too perfect! I hope you two didn't miss your home too much!" The man laughed as he threw the Zoruas into our cage.

"Aurora! Adolfo! Are you okay?!" Bubbles questioned as the two stood up on shaky legs.

"We're fine…" Adolfo said, though he looked like he was about to be sick.

"I can't believe we've been captured by those bastards again!" Aurora looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"We do seem to have a knack for getting into these types of situations…" Luke said "Though we also have a knack for getting out of them!" he said with a small smile trying to cheer the two Zoruas up. I decided now wouldn't be the best time to mention our only hope lied with Billy and Paula. Luke's attempt seemed to somewhat work though as Adolfo turned slightly less pale. Aurora seemed to be taking a bit more time though.

"Who is that?" Sparky questioned.

"As far as I can recall that's Argonaut one of the big bosses of the black fog operations." Adolfo said as Aurora composed herself.

"And Kyra's with him…" I murmured with concern looking at the Kadabra.

"Are you sure it's Kyra? It could be just another Kadabra." Sparky said looking at the Pokémon.

"Nope it's Kyra alright." Luke confirmed, glumly. "She's pretty unforgettable."

"What happened to her plan of going to get revenge?" Bubbles asked eyeing Kyra.

"Who knows? Maybe she sensed whoever she wanted revenge on but accidently got possessed along the way… or maybe she wants revenge on that Argonaut guy." I guessed.

"I wouldn't blame her for the latter." Aurora muttered bitterly but didn't elaborate.

"Either way she's an enemy now… even if we somehow get free we'll have to battle past her." Adolfo realised as I swallowed in fear.

"Kyra's one of Billy's strongest Pokémon… if not THE strongest." I said in fear.

"Hey don't fret Aurora and I are both dark types after all!" Adolfo pointed out. "The second we get out she doesn't stand a chance!"

"Shadow's no push over either." Luke said, smiling at the thought of his Pokémon. The lot of us grew quiet as we didn't know what to do know.

"How long do think it'll be until Billy and Paula actually realise we've been captured?" Bubbles asked as we sighed.

"Knowing those two we'll be in this cage for a while." I said glumly as everyone sighed once more.

"How about a game of 'who's that Pokémon?'" Sparkette suggested.

"NO!"

**2 hours later… Paula's POV**

"We finally got off the cycling road!" I cried with relief.

"I know I thought it'd never end!" Billy agreed. "Now we just have to find everyone else."

"They've probably found each other by now in any case. We'll send up another signal." I said looking at Shadow who immediately complied sending a very large signal up into the air. We waited a few minutes but no other signals appeared.

"Maybe they're close by so they don't need to send a signal?" Billy suggested as we began looking around in concern. Even Shadow was sniffing at the ground and the air trying to smell them. We waited a few minutes but there was no sign of any of our friends. "They couldn't have gone too far… we saw the signal only 2 hours ago!"

"Let's not panic maybe they just didn't see it." I suggested though inwardly I was concerned. Shadow sent up an even larger signal and we waited. Then there in the distance a huge shadow rose above the trees. A giant flock of flying types. And they were heading straight for us.

"What on earth?" Billy questioned as Shadow began to growl fiercely, obviously sensing a threat. The birds began to land around us, covering every tree branch with several landing close ensuring we were surrounded. Every single one of them was glaring at us and I swallowed in fear. "Not this! Not now!" Billy complained as we desperately looked for an escape route.

"Shadow do you know how to use Haze or a similar fog-creating move?!" I asked fearfully as Shadow shook his head before firing several Shadow balls at the birds trying to create a path through. Weirdly most of the birds didn't even attempt to dodge, just taking the moves and falling to the ground in silence.

"Thatta boy Shadow! If we can't hide we'll just blast our way through!" Billy cried triumphantly before we learnt the real reason the Pokémon hadn't dodged. Several more Pokémon replaced their fallen comrades and judging by the other flocks heading our way they wouldn't be getting short of reinforcements any time soon.

"There's too many!" I cried in fear as more kept coming.

"Well, well, well… what are you two doing on private property?" A man called out as he appeared through the trees. He wasn't smiling though his voice sounded friendly enough. The man was covered in scar though and I had to stop myself from gaping.

"Private property?!" Billy asked surprised.

"Of course! Why do you think most trainers buy a bike or avoid this route entirely? This is a protected zone and trainers are not allowed here!" the man explained as we shared a look.

"We're really sorry sir but our Pokémon… they fell off our bike you see and we just wanted to look for them." I explained hesitantly, unnerved by all the Pokémon eyeing me like I was a chunk of meat. I wondered how he could have so many Pokémon helpers at once.

"Your… Pokémon? What kind?" The man asked hesitantly.

"Three different Pichus, two Zoruas, a Buneary and an Eevee." Billy explained as the man's eyes narrowed and he gave a positively feral smile.

"I'm afraid I can't help you… for you see my master will be very happy to have his Zoruas back and I'm sure the rest of your group will fetch a pretty penny." The man said with a snarl as his eyes and all of the surrounding Pokemon's turned red and I and Billy recoiled in shock and fear. "Now I'm afraid I must destroy you." The man continued not sounding regretful at all as he snapped his fingers. "Kadabra!"A familiar Pokémon teleported before us making us gasp.

"Kyra?" Billy questioned, recognising his wayward Pokémon.

"What? This one's yours as well?" The man questioned before smirking. "Well she isn't anymore. Kadabra use Psycho cut!" Kyra immediately sent a wave of psychic energy towards us as Shadow fired a Shadow ball attack destroying the wave. "Hmm... your Pokémon is fairly strong… perhaps I shall have this one too! Kadabra use Confusion!" He called out and there was a moment of silence as nothing happened.

"Psychic moves don't work on Dark types after all!" Billy said with a relived laugh just as Shadow was slammed by a floating tree.

"I wasn't using it on your Pokémon." The man said with a cold smile. "Now Kadabra use Psybeam!"

"Shadow use Confuse Ray!" I cried before Billy could give an order.

"Hey I'm the one battling here!" Billy protested.

"We can argue when we're not in a perilous situation!" I shot back as Shadow fired his confuse ray at Kyra before she had a chance to react and she began staggering around in confusion her eyes flickering between red and brown.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"The confused state must be affecting the possession thing!" Billy guessed.

"Kadabra snap out of it." The man ordered his voice firm and his eyes bright red as Kyra stopped staggering and looked straight at us. "Now Kinesis!" Kyra closed her eyes holding out her spoon and immediately I had a violent headache and I covered my ears and began to scream. Billy was similarly affected, falling onto his knees, trying to block his head from whatever was causing the pain. Even Shadow wasn't immune he was whimpering and rolling on the ground. "Blast them back with confusion!" The next thing I knew we were blasted into the nearby trees Shadow getting pretty tired and Billy desperately tried one of his other Pokémon balls hoping against hope that they had started to work again making the man laugh cruelly.

"It's no good little boy! My interference means you can't send out any other Pokémon! But thanks for showing me that you actually have others! Kadabra finish them with confusion!"

"Shadow ball!" Billy and I cried in unison as Shadow fired off as many Shadow balls as possible but Kyra just deflected them with a flick of her spoon. Shadow desperately fired another attack hitting the Kadabra in the face making her glare fiercely as we were surround by psychic energy and Kyra began to flicker and glow with a familiar white light.

"Please tell me she's not doing what I think she's doing…" I begged as the glow increased and our fears were realised as Kyra began to grow and change.

"Alakazam!"

_*****__** Who's that Pokémon? It's Ponyta! **_

_**Evolution! Whoop! 1**__**st**__** Pokémon fully evolved!... Well technically the baddie did it for him…. One down five (possibly more) to go! **_

_**Bloodstargeneral- Luke has become as much my own character as he has yours …. You know what the strange thing is? When I was first thinking 'I want to write a Pokémon fanfict' I actually thought of a photograph guy but he was younger then Luke is (Nameless Photograph guy would have been about 10) and he had a Chikorita and a Ditto. And that story wasn't Shocks and static (though Paula was heavily based of the contest girl I thought of) it was a lot worse… seriously I hadn't got beyond Nameless photograph guy taking fake pictures of legendaries using his Ditto and getting into a fight with whoever the hero was (even I don't know) with his Chikorita. I don't imagine Luke would be the type to take fake pictures even if he had a Ditto. Still Luke hasn't got a full team yet so I might add those two to his team just for the sake of irony (well I'll know it's ironic anyway the rest of you probably won't care unless you're reading this right now…)**_

_**I do love Luke though… and Bubbles… and Aurora… I hate all the characters I created (embarrassed laugh) nah I don't really I love them all in their own weird ways. I especially love the Pokémon characters though which makes me feel bad cause I sometimes forget about their presence and feel I don't give them enough spotlight. Plus I end up getting annoyed with the Pokémon because my brain acts like a runaway train with plotlines sometimes I'm thinking 'oh here's a good idea the bad guy can kidnap the shocks and static crew and throw them into a volcano! (Okay not really…though Cinnabar island IS a volcano…)' and then the common sense part of my brain (it's there somewhere…) goes 'they have Pokémon! They can fight back!' and then I get really annoyed with the Pokémon for thwarting another (not so) brilliant plot. That's the main reason why the fog stuff could stop Poké balls being opened in the day care (Though it didn't on the ship… probably because the day care's fog was a set up base of operations while the ship was just the bad guys trying to gain control of a ship which they knew had rare/powerful Pokémon on it as well as several rich/influential people…. It also didn't in that lake in Cerulean… I'll say the power of the fog was diluted because that was underwater…). **_

_**Ransei's in Pokémon conquest? Well that's why I've never heard of it… I sort of looked at conquest and went that looks good but I wanna a 3D Pokémon game! Pokemon X and Y still freakin' cant wait (Though am I the only one who thinks the boy looks like a short haired girl wearing the black/white male B/W sprites outfit and the girl looks like a younger version of Caitlin the Elite four/ battle castle person?) DON'T spoil it for me though I've been staying away from X and Y news lately because I completely ruined the B/W storyline for myself (not that it wasn't hard to guess from the opening credits). Though if X and Y use the badguy plotline I'm planning for this story (I doubt they will but you never know) I'm going be so angry. Though I'm also not looking forwards to X and Y cause I was expecting the scenery to look a lot better than it does… I mean I've played Luigi's mansion, Kingdom Hearts and I'm currently playing the new animal crossing. Those are all in 3D and those all look brilliant why so does it seem like Nintendo put no effort into X and Y? But there are some bits of the game I've seen in trailers that do look good (like the forest and the Pokémon look great) so I'll just have to wait and see…**_

_**I'm going back to hospital next week for a check-up hopefully I won't stay there again but I thought you guys should know if I drop off the face off the earth again. I won't say 'I promise not to abandon this' because you never know what's going to happen and the one thing I can't stand is reading that message in story which hasn't been updated for years. I don't INTEND to abandon this but life is stressful at the moment so updates are slow.**_


End file.
